<S.  2.<<^. 


1^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  *% 


Presented    b7V?(£.\^  .  CKx^Vv^V^V^^oV-Vs 


BV  772  .A79  1857 
Arthur,  William,  1819-1901 
The  duty  of  giving  away  a 
stated  proportion  of  our 


THE 


DUTY  OF  aiYINO  AWAY 


A  STATED 


PROPORTION  OF  OUR  INCOME. 


BY  WILLIAM  ARTHUK,  A.M. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 
PRESBYTEPvIAN  BOARD   OF  PUBLICATION". 

1857. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

Bomb  changes,  not  aflfecting  the  sense,  have  been  made ;  such  as  the  reduction 
of  "  pounds  "  to  "  dollars,"  and  the  omission  of  a  few  local  names  and  references 
to  books. 


THE 


DUTY  OF  GIYIIG  A¥AY 

A  STATED  PROPORTION  OF  OUR  INCOME. 


I  PROPOSE  to  submit  a  few  observations  on  the 
duty  of  giving  away  a  stated  pi'opm'tion  of  our 
income.  For  the  practical  liandling  of  the  subject, 
I  know  not  that  I  can  do  better  than  attempt  to 

Explain  the  duty, 

State  the  grounds  whereon  it  rests,  and 

Plead  for  practical  attention  to  it. 

When  we  speak  of  the  duty  of  giving  away  a 
stated  proportion  of  our  income,  we  do  not  mean 
that  all  jpersons  having  equal  incomes  are  hound  to 
give  away  equal  sumSy  however  their  other  circum- 
starices  tnay  vary.  Power  to  give  away  may  be 
modijSed  by  three  circumstances, — family,  locality, 
and  station.  Of  two  persons,  each  receiving  a  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year,  one  has  seven  children,  the  other 
is  a  bachelor.  It  would  be  strange  if  the  single  man 
miglit  justly  spend  upon  himself  as  much  as  the 
Other  must  spend  on  his  family,  and  might  inno- 


4:  MUST   ALL   GIVE  THE   SAME   PROPORTIONS 

cently  give  away  only  as  much  as  lie  contrives  to 
give.     This  is  a  difference  of  family. 

Of  two  persons  having  the  same  family  and  the 
Bame  income,  one  lives  in  a  large  city,  where  rent, 
taxes,  and  provisions  are  high ;  the  other  in  an  agri- 
cultm-al  village,  where  these  are  all  cheap.  Is  the 
latter  to  take  the  full  advantage  of  his  easier  circum- 
stances for  his  private  purse,  and  give  none  of  it  to 
benevolence  ?     This  is  the  difference  of  locality. 

Again,  two  persons  have  each  five  thousand  a 
year.  One  from  small  beginnings  has  reached  that 
point  by  industry  and  saving.  Without  hereditary 
claims,  without  public  expectations,  and  with  inva- 
luable habits  of  economy,  he  is  royally  rich  on  his 
five  thousand  a  year.  The  other  has  inherited  the 
same  income  from  a  father  who  was  in  the  habit 
of  spending  fifty  thousand  a  year.  A  number  of 
servants,  retainers,  and  tradespeople  have  what 
amounts  to  a  vested  interest  in  his  revenue ;  the 
public  have  expectations ;  and,  worst  of  all,  his 
habits  are  formed  on  a  costly  model,  so  that  he  is 
not  only  perplexed,  but  really  poor,  with  his  five 
thousand  a  year.     This  is  the  difference  of  station. 

Each  of  these  three  branches  of  modification  has 
innumerable  offshoots,  going  to  show,  that  to  require 
all  who  have  equal  incomes  to  give  away  equal 
sums,  would  be  neither  just  nor  generous. 

Not  do  we  mean  that  all  persons  are  to  give  away 
the  same  proportion  of  their  income^  however  its 
gross  amount  may  va7"y.  Two  brothers  live  in  the 
same  town,  and  have  the  same  family.    In  this  case 


MUST  ALL  GIVE  THE   SAME   PROrORTION?  5 

station,  locality  and  family  are  equal.  Tlie  elder  is 
just  able  to  provide  liis  children  with  a  small  house, 
frugal  fare,  homely  clothing,  and  a  passable  educa- 
tion. He  is  quite  unable  to  lay  up  anything  which 
would  help  to  open  their  way  in  life,  when  the  criti- 
cal period  of  settlement  shall  come.  Yet,  knowing 
to  whom  he  and  his  owe  their  daily  bread,  he  grate- 
fully devotes  a  tenth  of  his  income  to  the  service  of 
God. 

His  younger  brother  has  been  otherwise  pros- 
pered. His  children  sleep  in  spacious  rooms,  and 
play  among  their  own  flower-beds ;  their  clothing  is 
rich,  their  board  generous,  and  their  education  costly. 
For  each  of  them  he  is  able  to  lay  up  in  store,  and 
knows  that,  if  they  do  not  pass  through  life  with 
comfort  and  respect,  it  will  be  their  own  fault.  And 
is  this  man,  for  whom  Providence  has  done  so  much 
more  than  for  his  brother,  to  content  himself  with 
rendering  the  same  proportionate  acknowledgment 
as  he  ?  For  the  latter  to  give  a  tenth  of  all  is  an 
efibrt ;  an  effort  which  he  feels,  and  his  children  feel, 
in  "  their  coats,  their  hosen,  and  their  hats."  For  the 
other  to  give  a  tenth  would  be  no  effort  whatever ; 
it  would  never  affect  his  comforts,  nor  even  his  luxu- 
ries, no,  not  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  his  table.  It 
would  affect  nothing  but  his  hoarded  money.  If  we 
hold  that  his  brother  should  give  a  tenth,  and  he 
should  give  no  more,  then  we  hold  that  the  lesser 
mercies  demand  the  more  touching  acknowledg- 
ment, and  that  God's  superior  bounties  may  sit  more 
lightly  on  our  hearts. 
.    Take  another  case :  You  visit  a  friend  when  he  is 


6  MUST  ALL  GIVE  THE  SAME  PROPORTION? 

twenty-five  years  of  age,  spending  little  on  bis  estab- 
lishment, and  giving  away  a  tenth  to  Him  who  gives 
him  all.     You  return  to  his  house  when  he  is  fifty. 
Now  he  is  spending  on  bis  establishment  ten  times 
as  much  as  before.    Why  ?    Because  the  Lord  "  hath 
blessed  the  w^ork  of  his  hands,  and  his  substance  is 
increased  in  the  land."     The  same  labour  which, 
twenty-five  years  ago,  yielded  him  a  modest  income, 
now  brings  a  twentyfold  return.     When  Providence 
has  thus  multiplied  the  proportionate  productiveness 
of  his  soil,  is  he  to  confine  his  acknowledgments  to 
the  same  proportion  which  he  rendered  when  his 
efi'orts  w^ere  far  less  fruitful?     If  he  does,  gratitude 
diminishes  as  bounties  enlarge.     We  would,  there- 
fore, strongly  contend  that  when  Providence  greatly 
increases  the  return  of  labour,  or  throws  abundance 
into  our  lap  without  labour,  we  are  bound  to  acknow- 
ledge  such   mercy — mercy  which  distinguishes   us 
above  the  ordinary  lot  of  men — not  by  thank-offer- 
ings adjusted  to  the  scale  of  those  whose  blessing  is 
less  than  ours,  but  by  aiming  to  keep  pace  w^ith  the 
peculiar  bounty  which,  while  some  pine  and  others 
struggle, .  gives    us    "  all    things    richly   to   enjoy." 
One  man's  tenth  is  more  than  another  man's  third. 
I  know  one  venerable  man — one  of  the  men  whom 
my  soul  loveth — who,  at  the  outset  of  life,  adopted 
the  vow  of  Jacob,  "  Of  all  that  Thou  shalt  give  me, 
I  will  surely  give  the  tenth  to  Thee  ;"  but  so  far  from 
confining  himself  to  this,  I  know  that  some  years 
ago,  he  was  for  that  jear  giving  away  not  a  tenth, 
but  four  tenths.     How  Providence  has  dealt  with 
him  you  may  judge  from  the  simple  fact,  that  on 


AEE   WE  BOUND  TO   GIVE  ALL?  7 

one  day  lie  might  be  seen  in  the  morning  giving 
away  a  thousand  dollars  to  one  religious  society,  and 
in  the  evening  five  hundred  to  another. 

On  the  other  hand^  we  do  not  mean  that  persons 
are  hound  to  give  away  all  their  income^  so  as  to 
admit  of  no  i^icrease  of  cajyital,  or  extension  of  pro- 
perty.  There  is  a  large  class  of  promises  which 
attach  temporal  advancement  to  humble  and  godly 
industry,  as  a  reward  from  Providence.  "  By  humi- 
lity and  the  fear  of  the  Lord  are  riches,  and  honour, 
and  life."  (Prov.  xxii.  4.)  "  Such  as  are  blessed  of 
Him  shall  inherit  the  earth."  (Psalm  xxxvii.  22.) 
"Blessed  is  the  man  that  feareth  the  Lord,  and 
delighteth  greatly  in  His  commandments.  "Wealth 
and  riches  shall  be  in  his  house."  (Psalm  cxii.  1,  3.) 
Liberality  itself,  the  very  virtue  for  which  we  are 
pleading,  is  encouraged  by  the  prospect  of  abun- 
dance. "  Honour  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  and 
with  the  first-fruits  of  all  thine  increase:  so  shall 
thy  barns  be  filled  with  plenty,  and  tliy  presses  shall 
burst  out  with  new  wine."  (Prov.  iii.  9.)  One  of 
the  punishments  threatened  against  improperly  got- 
ten wealth  is  its  decrease,  while  lawful  labour  is 
stimulated  by  the  hope  of  plenty.  "  Wealth  gotten 
by  vanity  shall  be  diminished,  but  he  that  gathereth 
by  labour  shall  increase." 

This  passage  not  only  offers  to  industry  the  prize 
of  increase,  but  states  the  true  relation  of  labour 
and  capital.  "He  that  gathereth  by  labour  shall 
increase."  Labour  creates  capita] ;  capital  rewards 
labour.  Where  there  is  no  labour,  capital  is  lumber ; 
where  there  is  no  capital,  labour  is  beating  the  air. 


8  CAPITAL   AND  LAJ30UR. 

The  effect  of  well-directed  labour  is  to  increase  capi- 
tal ;  the  effect  of  increasing  capital  is  to  lighten  the 
burden  and  raise  the  pay  of  labour.     These  effects 
depend  not  on  the  will  of  men  or  masters,  but  are 
wrought  deeper  than  either  can  permanently  reach, 
into  the   groundwork   of  human   relations,  by  the 
Builder  of  all.     That  accumulation  of  capital  which 
results  from^^the  blessing  of  Providence  on  lawful 
industry,  so  far  from  contravening  the  purposes  of 
benevolence,    directly   and    most   efficiently   serves 
them.     Two  brothers  enter  this  city,  each  with  a 
capital   of   $100,030.      The   one  seeks   out  twenty 
thousand  poor  families  in  the  city  and  country,  and 
gives  away  all  his  capital  among  them,  -Q.ye  dollars 
to  each.     The  other  invests  his  hundred  thousand  in 
a  factory.    Return  in  five  years,  and  mark  the  effect 
of  the   two   sums   upon   the   people.     Of  the  first 
hundred,  the   only  trace  you   can  find  is   here   a 
decayed  bonnet,  there  a  worn-out  cloak,  and  in  some 
humble  homes  a  very  grateful  recollection ;  but  no 
permanent  public  benefit,  no  sensible  improvement 
in  the  condition  of  the  labouring  poor.     As  to  the 
other,  it  fed  and  clothed  many  families  from  the  first 
day ;  to-day  it  is  feeding  and  clothing  many  families, 
and  it  is  promising  to  do  so  in  perpetuity.     At  the 
same  time,  the  profits  which  are  known  to  have 
accrued  to  its  owner,  are  attracting  other  capital  to  a 
like  investment,  so  as  further  to  improve  the  pros- 
pects of  all  the  labouring  population  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood. 

It  is  possible,  and  more  than  possible,  that  in  this 
case  the  one  who  gave  away  his  all,  did  it  from  the 


IS   CAPITAL   USEFUL   OR  HUPwTFUL  ?  9 

"noble  motive  of  self-denial ;  and  most  assnredly  he 
will  have  his  reward.  It  is  also  possible  that  the 
other  acted  from  the  commonest  selfishness,  and  can 
look  for  no  credit  beyond  that  of  worldly  wisdom. 
But  the  fact,  that  he  who  acted  from  a  noble  motive 
did  no  permanent  good  to  the  poor,  while  he  who 
acted  from  a  low  one  did  much,  forces  us  to  inquire, 
Did  not  the  one  unconsciously  violate,  and  the  other 
unconsciously  follow,  a  law  of  Providence?  Does 
not  the  one  case  indicate  the  existence  of  a  law 
against  the  dispersion  of  property  in  indiscriminate 
gifts,  and  the  other  a  law  in  favour  of  its  employ- 
ment to  elicit  and  reward  useful  labour?  Land  and 
money  are  the  two  bases  of  wealth.  Cultivation  is 
to  the  one  what  commercial  investment  is  to  the 
other.  Religion  does  not  require  that  either  should 
be  made  away  with,  or  neglected ;  but  that,  when 
laid  out  for  increase,  the  Lord  should  be  honoured 
with  the  first-fruits  of  all  the  increase. 

But  here  many  sincere  and  admirable  Christians 
will  tell  me,  "You  are  arguing  directly  against  the 
words  of  our  Lord.  He  commands  us,  *  Lay  not  up 
for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth ;'  and  to  do  as 
you  say,  is  plainly  to  break  this  very  clear  com- 
mand." If  that  be  so,  all  my  reasoning  on  the  point 
falls  to  the  ground ;  and  he  who  permits  riches  to 
increase  is  no  Christian.     But  is  it  so  ? 

We  have  already  seen  that  a  class  of  promises 
exist  which  must  be  nullified,  if  no  servant  of  God 
is  to  permit  his  possessions  to  increase ;  and  such 
commands  as,  "  Provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of 
all  men;"  "Charge  them  that  are  rich that 


10  IS   IT   A   SIN   TO   GROW   KICn  ? 

thej  be  ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  communi- 
cate," &c.,  enforce  duties  which  exist  not,  if  no 
man  has  a  right  to  have  possessions,  except  only  in 
such  a  degree  as  will  enable  him  to  continue  alive. 
No  command  ever  contradicts  another  command ; 
and  no  command  is  ever  meant  to  supersede  a  whole 
class  of  promises.  With  these  two  principles  in 
view,  we  take  this  command,  "  Lay  not  up  for  your- 
selves treasures  upon  earth,"  and  place  it  beside 
another  which  is  like  unto  it :  "  Take  no  thought  for 
to-morrow."  Am  I  to  be  told  that  I  break  this  latter 
command,  if  I  take  thought  for  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities which  do  not  press  to-day,  but  will  to-mor- 
row? Without 'doing  so,  I  cannot  fulfil  my  duty  to 
God,  to  my  neighbour,  or  to  myself.  The  highest 
obligations  which  are  laid  upon  me,  require  thought, 
and  action,  too,  for  the  morrow.  This  runs  through 
all  the  ways  of  Providence.  Most  of  the  duties  for 
which  he  holds  us  responsible,  call  us  to  work  for 
the  morrow.  For  to-morrow  the  plougher  ploughs, 
for  to-morrow  the  sower  sows,  for  to-morrow  the 
reaper  reaps,  for  to-morrow  the  miller  grinds,  for 
to-morrow  the  weaver  plies  his  loom,  for  to-morrow 
the  builder  frames  his  roof ;  and  did  we  put  a  stop 
to  all  labour  which  is  for  to-morrow,  we  should  at 
once  reduce  the  activity  of  the  human  race  to  a  few 
of  the  most  menial  occupations.  The  call  to  take 
no  thought  for  to-morrow,  is  certainly  not  a  call 
to  neglect  duties,  and  evade  responsibilities  ;  but  a 
call  to  trust  in  Providence  when  the  time  only  to 
trust  has  come.  When  I  have  done  for  to-morrow 
all  that  is  laid  at  my  door,  then  let  me  not  encroach 


TAKE   NO   THOUGHT   FOR   TO-MORROW.  11 

upon  tlie  province  of  Him  who  alone  can  rule  the 
future  and  the  contingent,  by  troubling  myself  with 
them.  Let  me  simply  do  this  day  the  work  which  is 
this  day  due ;  and  though  long  and  impenetrable 
months  may  lie  between  me  and  its  result,  for  that  I 
must  trust  Him  whom  the  sparrows  trust;  saying 
cheerfully,  "  The  Lord  will  provide  !" 

"When  in  the  one  of  these  two  glorious  words  of 
Christ  the  letter  is  so  plainly  to  be  interpreted  by 
the  spirit  of  all  Scripture,  it  is  not  probable  that  in 
the  other  the  letter  is  all  we  are  to  look  to.  But  if 
you  will  appeal  to  the  letter,  then  to  the  letter  you 
shall  go.  That  letter  is,  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  upon  earth,  where  Tnoth  and  rust  do  cor- 
ru^ty  Now  moth  and  rust  do  not  corrupt  property 
employed  in  active  service,  as  commercial  invest- 
ment. They  only  corrupt  hoards  which  are  heaped 
up  idle,  not  doing  the  purposes  of  Providence,  not 
contributing  to  the  welfare  of  men.  Against  such 
stores  only  does  the  letter  of  this  precept  bear,  and 
against  them  let  all  denunciations  peal ! 

But  though  we  do  not  believe  that  the  letter  of 
our  Lord's  precept  was  ever  meant  to  prevent  His 
servants  from  accepting  such  increase  of  their  goods 
as  His  bounty  might  give  them,  while  they  glorified 
Him  with  their  first-fruits ;  we  deeply  feel  that  in 
the  spirit  of  that  precept  many  weighty  lessons  lie. 
It  seems  to  say,  ''^  Do  not  resolve  to  he  richy  To 
you,  young  man,  it  seems  clearly  to  say,  "Do  not 
make  up  your  mind  to  die  worth  thirty  thousand  or 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars."  Any  such  resolution 
is  evil,  and  out  of  it  woes  will  come.     "  They  that 


12  HOW   TO   GET   RICH. 

will  he  rich  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and 
man  J  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in 
destruction  and  j)erdition."  (1  Tim.  vi.  9.)  It  also 
Bays, 

Do  not  mahe  haste  to  he  rich  j  even  without  for- 
mally resolving  to  win  a  high  prize  of  wealth,  do 
not  follow  after  riches  eagerly,  or  long  to  see  your- 
self enriched  with  abundance.     "He  that  maketh 

haste  to  be  rich  shall  not  he  innocent He  that 

hasteth  to  be  rich  hath  an  evil  eye^  and  considereth 
not  that  poverty  shall  come  upon  him."  (Prov. 
xxviii.  20,  22.) 

Do  not  adoj)t  selfishness  as  a  means  of  wealth. 
Our  natural  reason  and  the  carnal  mind  prompt  us 
to  say,  "  If  I  am  to  be  rich,  all  that  I  get  I  must 
keep.  Holding,  nursing,  guarding  all  that  comes 
into  my  hands,  it  must  grow  to  be  of  some  account 
at  last."  Such  a  mode  of  calculating  is  confronted 
by  the  spirit  of  faith  and  love  which  breathes  all 
through  the  Bible.  Yiewing  a  Power  infinitely 
above  the  petty  advantages  of  hoarding,  it  cries, 
"  There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet  increaseth ;  there 
is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  and  it  tendeth 
to  poverty."  Take  this  proverb  to  your  heart.  There 
is  joy  and  glory  in  it.  It  links  your  hope  of  i^ersonal 
comfort  with  the  Father  of  all  benevolence.  Say, 
*'  If  there  is  wealth  to  be  gotten  by  greed,  by  hold- 
ing, by  shutting  my  heart  against  gushes  of  gene- 
rosity, and  my  hand  against  self-forgetting  acts  of 
goodness,  then  such  wealth  be  to  others,  and  its  fruits 
be  far  from  my  children  !"  Say,  "  Wealth  so  gotten 
is  no  wealth :  it  is  but  a  metal  coffin  for  the  affec- 


TRUSTma  IN   RICHES.  IS 

tions.  If  wealth  come  to  me,  let  it  come  from  the 
Great  Giver,  at  whose  bidding  I  cast  mj  bread  upon 
the  waters  !"  "The  blessing  of  the  Lord  it  maketh 
rich,  and  He  addeth  no  sorrow  with  it." 

Do  not  trust  in  riches.  In  the  forms  of  popular 
speech,  we  may  often  trace  real  and  important  dis- 
tinctions. Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  hear 
persons  speak  of  a  man  idolizing  various  objects  of 
earthly  affection.  Yet  of  many  such  objects  we  never 
hear  it  said  they  are  made  gods.  We  often  hear  of 
a  man  making  an  idol  of  his  child ;  but  people  do 
not  say  he  makes  a  god  of  his  child.  With  regard 
to  money,  however,  it  is  quite  otherwise ;  they 
readily  say,  "  He  makes  a  god  of  his  money."  Yes ; 
for  he  not  only  loves  the  money  and  doats  on  it,  but 
he  puts  his  trust  in  it.  All  the  faith  he  has  centres 
in  it.  It  is  his  Providence  ;  on  it  his  future  depends; 
it  is  his  hope  for  his  children ;  his  hope  of  name  and 
honour  after  death.  Assail  it,  and  you  assail  his 
rock,  his  strong  tower,  his  reward.  Take  it  away, 
and  in  his  own  feeling  you  have  bereft  him  of  all  his 
dependence.  Surely  this  is  idolatry !  "  Charge  them 
that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that  they  be  not  high- 
minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches^  but  in  the 
living  God,  who  giveth  us  all  things  richly  to  enjoy ; 
that  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich  in  good  works, 
ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate  ;  laying 
up  in  store  for  themselves  a  good  foundation  against 
the  time  to  come,  that  they  may  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life."     (1  Tim.  vi.  17-19.) 

These  seem  to  me  to  be  some  of  the  chief  lessons 
taught  us  in  this  precept  of  our  blessed  Master  \  and 


14  IS  INDEFINITE  INCREASE   UNLAWFUL? 

he  who  cordially  follows  these,  glorifying  God,  and 
benefiting  man  with  liberal  first-fruits  of  all  his 
increase — on  him,  for  my  part,  riches  and  plenty 
may  freely  come.  In  his  progress  all  good  men  will 
rejoice ;  the  poor  will  bless  his  riches.  If,  like 
Abraham,  he  has  an  old  servant,  he  will  say,  with 
smiles,  "  The  Lord  hath  blessed  my  master  greatly ; 
and  he  has  become  great :  and  He  hath  given  him 
flocks,  and  herds,  and  silver,  and  gold,  and  men- 
servants,  and  maidservants,  and  camels,  and  asses." 
(Gen.  xxiv.  35.) 

We  do  not  mean  tliat  Christians  are  hound  to  draw 
a  line^  and  say,  ''^Beyond  this  limit,  no  matter  what 
the  bounties  of  Providence  may  he,  my  possessions 
shall  never  goP  O,  what  a  blessing  it  had  been  to 
thousands  had  they  adopted  such  a  resolution ! 
Many  who  prospered  up  to  a  point  which  they 
would  have  once  thought  affluence,  not  then  content, 
pressed  forward,  and  by  a  few  errors  dispersed  the 
gatherings  of  a  lifetime.  Many  for  years  employed 
their  growing  wealth  to  do  good  ;  but  at  length  they 
had  outgrown  their  religious  strength,  and,  like  a 
youth  failing  under  his  own  stature,  their  virtues 
died  of  decline.  Happy  would  it  be  for  many,  did 
they  set  a  limit  to  their  aims,  and  add  nothing  be- 
yond !  Whenever  this  is  done  in  the  spirit  of  hum- 
ble faith,  surely  it  is  good  and  acceptable  to  God. 
But  I  cannot  undertake  to  teach  that  it  is  laid  down 
in  Scripture  as  an  incumbent  duty. 

Away  on  the  very  horizon  of  sacred  history,  in  the 
glory  of  its  dawn,  we  see — shall  I  say,  a  group  ?^ 
three  personages ;  the  first,  shrouded  with  that  excel- 


THE  CASE  OF  JOB.  15" 

ling  light  which  no  man  can  approach  unto;  the 
second,  dark  with  that  darkness  which^  tbank  God, 
neither  our  words  nor  our  imagination  can  picture ; 
the  third,  a  man  of  like  passions  with  ourselves.  To 
this  man  the  Maker  of  all  23oints  the  tempter  of  all, 
and  says,  ''  Hast  thou  considered  my  servant  Job, 
that  there  is  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  perfect 
and  an  upright  man,  one  that  feareth  God  and 
escheweth  evil?"  And  who  is  this  of  whom  we 
Lave  such  testimony  as  never  was  borne  to  other 
man — who  is  held  up  to  the  accuser  of  saints,  as  a 
triumphant  instance  of  the  redeeming  power  of 
grace  ?  He  is  one  whose  wealth  is  almost  countless, 
w^ho  has  distanced  every  contemporary,  and  is  the 
greatest  of  all  the  men  of  the  East.  It  is  plain  that 
his  immense  possessions  were  no  stain  upon  his  "  re- 
cord "  which  was  "  on  high."  But  ere  you  exult,  in 
the  belief  that  you  may  innocently  accumulate  to  an 
indefinite  amount,  carefully  mark  how  he  employed 
his  wealth. 

While  his  children  were  holding  family  feasts,  and 
the  joy  of  abundance  was  in  all  their  homes,  he  was 
"  continually  "  rising  early,  going  to  the  altar  of  God, 
and  offering  up  offerings  in  large  number.  And 
how  did  he  live  among  his  neighbors,  while  thus 
honouring  his  God  ?  "  When  the  ear  heard  me,  then 
it  blessed  me ;  and  when  the  eye  saw  me,  it  gave 
witness  to  me:  because  I  delivered  the  poor  that 
cried,  and  the  fatherless,  and  him  that  had  none  to 
help  him.  The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to 
perish  came  upon  me:  and  I  caused  the  widow's 
heart  to  sing  for  joy .  .1  was  eyes  to  the  blind, 


IB  now  TO  HALLOW  GEEAT  WEALTH. 

and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame.  I  was  a  father  to  the 
poor;  and  the  cause  which  I  knew  not  I  searched 
out."     (Job  xxix.  11,  &c.) 

Go  thou  and  do  likewise.  Tlius  continually  and 
liberally  offer  unto  God ;  thus  bountifully  and 
actively  distribute  to  man;  and  so  long  as  we  see 
you  so  doing,  "  may  your  garners  be  full,  affording 
all  manner  of  store !"  I,  at  least,  will  cheerfully 
leave  it  to  Providence  to  fix  the  limit  of  your  in- 
crease. But  one  word:  as  you  proceed  upwards, 
one  earnest  word:  "Walk  warily  on  those  heights ! 
Heads  are  often  turned  up  there ;  and  fearful  gulfs 
yawn  under  you  if  you  fall ! 

"While,  however,  we  do  not  contend  that  to  let 
*'  riches  increase  "  is  forbidden,  or  even  that  to  per- 
mit that  increase  to  an  indefinite  amount  is  contrary 
to  clear  Scripture,  we  do  contend  : — 

That  not  to  give  away  any  part  of  our  income  is 
unlawful : 

That  to  leave  what  we  shall  give  to  be  determined 
by  impulse  or  chance,  without  any  principle  to  guide 
us,  is  unlawful : 

That  to  fix  a  principle  for  our  guidance,  by  our 
own  disposition,  or  by  prevalent  usage,  without  seek- 
ing light  in  the  word  of  God,  is  unlawful : 

That  when  we  search  the  Scriptures  for  a  princi- 
ple, the  very  lowest  proportion  of  our  income  for 
which  we  can  find  any  show  of  justification,  is  a 
tenth  of  the  whole : 

That,  therefore,  it  is  our  duty  to  give  away  statedly, 
for  the  service  and  honour  of  our  God,  at  the  very 


GROUNDS   OF   THE   DUTY.  17 

least   one-tenth   of  all  "vvliich  He   commits   to   our 
stewardship. 

These  are  my  views  as  to  the  duty  for  which  I  am 
now  pleading  ;  and  are,  I  presume,  however  shades 
and  points  may  vary,  in  substance  the  views  of  the 
gentlemen  by  whose  call  I  stand  here. 

As    TO    THE    GROUNDS     ON   WHICH    THIS    DUTY    EESTS. 

Let  us  suppose  that  it  does  not  rest  on  any  grounds 
whatever ;  that  the  idea  of  such  a  duty  is  without 
foundation  ;  that  we  are  each  at  liberty  to  choose 
what  proportion  of  his  possessions  he  shall  give 
away,  from  the  nearest  approach  to  nothing  upwards; 
so  that  if  one  give  a  tenth,  another  a  nineteenth,  and 
a  third  one  thousandth  part,  they  differ  not  in  this — 
that  one  is  liberal,  the  other  covetous,  and  the  third 
a  wretch ;  but  in  this — that  the  one  is  liberal,  the 
other  less  liberal,  and  the  other  less  so  still ;  each  of 
them  practising  a  virtue,  a  voluntary  virtue,  only  in 
various  degrees.  This  a  plain  meaning  and  practical 
application  of  a  notion  which  floats  in  undefined 
thought,  and  is  often  expressed  in  vague  language, 
by  many  excellent  people, — a  notion  about  Chris- 
tianity leaving  the  amount  of  liberality  to  the  private 
will  and  disposition  of  each  individual. 

If  this  view  be  correct,  then  it  follows  that  in 
Christian  morals  we  have  one  virtue  ivhich  has  no 
minimum  limit^  no  expiring  point ;  which  continues 
to  be  a  virtue  down  to  within  a  hairbreadth  of 
nothing,  no  matter  how  largely  mixed  with  the 
opposite  vice.  Shall  we  apply  this  principle  to  the 
other  virtues  ?  for  instance,  Truth  ?    Are  we  not  apt 


|9  HAS   LICEEALITY   A  MINIMUM   LIMIT? 

to  tliink  that,  however  much  truth  may  be  in  a  state- 
ment, if  mixed  with  a  little  deception,  the  virtue  of 
it  is  gone  ?  And  as  to  honesty,  Do  we  not  feel  that 
whatever  amount  of  honesty  may  be  in  a  transaction, 
if  mixed  with  any  cheating,  the  virtue  is  destroyed  ? 
And  are  we  to  hold  that  any  miserable  gift,  some- 
what short  of  nothing,  which  a  covetous  man  may 
give,  is  yet  an  act  of  liberality,  though  in  a  low 
degree  ?  Is  liberality  the  one  virtue  which  Christi- 
anity has  abandoned,  in  this  cold  world,  to  every 
man's  whim,  and  never  pronounces  violated,  so  long 
as  it  is  not  totally  renounced  and  abjured?  Surely 
there  is  some  point  far  short  of  nothing,  at  which 
gifts  cease  to  be  "  liberal,"  and  begin  to  be  "  vile  ;" 
at  which  a  giver  ceases  to  be  *' bountiful,"  and 
deserves  to  be  called  a  "  churl !" 

One  thing  is  certain,  that  if  Christianity  has  set  no 
minimum  limit  to  generosity,  it  has  set  a  maximum 
limit.  If  we  are  at  liberty  to  press  down  our  gene- 
rosity to  the  lowest  discernible  point,  we  are  not  at 
liberty  to  push  it  up  without  check.  Christianity 
commands  plainly,  "Owe  no  man  anything;"  so  that 
1  cannot  give  away  money  while  I  am  unable  to  pay 
my  debts,  without  violating  the  laws  of  my  religion. 
She  also  plainly  declares  that  if  any  man  provide  not 
for  his  own,  and  especially  for  those  of  his  own  house, 
he  has  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  '^infi- 
del." Therefore  I  cannot  give  away  money  while 
my  own  are  unprovided  for,  or  left  to  be  provided 
for  by  others,  without  violating  the  laws  of  my  reli- 
gion. Is  it,  then,  probable  that  Christ's  good  Gospel, 
while  marking  points  in  the  upward  progress  of 


ARE   WE   BOUND   TO   A   TEKTH  ?  1^ 

generosity  at  which  it  would  pass  into  injustice,  has 
marked  none  in  its  downward  progress  at  which  it 
would  pass  into  selfishness  ? 

If  Christianity  has  left  benevolence  entirely  to 
private  decision,  it  also  follows  tliat^  while  tJiose 
branches  of  expenditure  which  regard  our  self-interest 
are  regulated  hy  fixed  circumstances^  that  which  is 
for  the  glory  of  God  is  at  the  mercy  of  chance.  The 
three  circumstances  already  named — fainilj^,  locality, 
station — decide  for  each  of  us,  to  a  great  extent,  the 
scale  of  most  items  of  our  outlay.  Your  rent  is 
tolerably  well  fixed  from  year  to  year,  your  board  is 
not  very  uncertain,  your  dress,  and  every  other  claim 
of  self-interest,  has  its  proportion  not  ill  defined  ;  and 
is  it  probable  that  while  every  outlay  that  nourishes 
self  is  regular,  that  only  outlay  which  tends  to  free 
you  from  earth,  and  connect  your  hopes  Avith  a  bet- 
ter country,  is  precisely  the  one  which  the  religion 
of  Jesus  has  left  to  be  the  football  of  passion  or  of 
accident  ? 

"  I  do  not  mean,"  you  say,  "  that  we  are  at  liberty 
to  give  by  mere  chance,  without  fixing  some  princi- . 
pie ;  I  only  mean,  we  are  not  bound  to  a  tenth." 
Not  bound  to  a  tenth  !  No,  most  surely  we  are  not 
bound  to  a  tenth.  If  that  be  your  meaning,  then  thy 
heart  is  as  my  heart.  No  principle  of  the  Gospel,  no 
precept  of  the  law,  ever  glances  in  the  direction  of 
binding  us  to  a  tenth.  But  is  it  possible  that  yoa 
mean  something  which  you  do  not  say  ?  Is  it  possi- 
ble that  when  you  speak  of  not  being  bound  to  a 
tenth,  you  mean  we  are  at  liberty  to  make  up  our 
minds  not  to  give  a  tenth,  but  to  give  something 


20  DOES   CHRISTIANITY  LOWER  VIRTUE? 

less  ?  Well,  so  let  it  be.  Suppose  that  a  Christian, 
without  offending  against  his  religion,  may  spend  on 
Belf-interests  more  than  nine-tenths  of  his  income; 
then  it  follows  that  It  is  lawful  for  a  Christian  to  he 
more  selfish  than  was  laufnl  for  a  Jew.  This  con- 
clusion may  not  be  agreeable  ;  but  it  is  clear.  Every 
Jew  was  blessed  with  a  religion  which  checked  his 
downward,  earthward  tendency,  at  the  very  least  to 
this  extent — that,  of  his  all,  one  tenth  went  to  sacred 
things,  and  thus  connected  with  them  his  affections 
and  his  hopes.  Less  than  that  he  could  not  consecrate 
to  the  service  of  his  God,  without  a  trespass  against 
his  religion.  If,  then,  a  Christian  may  give  less,  his 
religion  elevates  him  in  a  lower  degree,  leaves  him 
to  be  more  earthly  without  guilt,  and  less  noble 
without  reproach. 

i  One  other  consequence  follows.  If  a  Christian, 
may,  according  to  his  religion,  lawfully  devote  less 
than  a  tenth  of  his  income  to  holy  purposes,  then 
Christianity  has  lowered  the  standard  of  a  vir- 
tue, and  that  the  virtue  of  liberality  !  The  Jew  who 
gave  less  than  one  tenth  was  branded  by  his  religion 
a  sinner.  That  system,  which  we  regard  as  so  much 
more  earthly,  so  much  less  spiritual  and  heavenly, 
than  ours,  ever  held  the  standard  of  pecuniary  self- 
denial  up  to  that  point,  at  the  very  least.  And  is  it 
come  to  this,  that  our  Christianity,  our  religion  of 
love  and  sacrifice,  let  down  the  standard  of  this 
special  virtue  below  the  point  where  it  stood  when 
she  came  to  warm  our  world  ?  We  know  the  thou- 
sand contrivances  to  escape  from  this  conclusion. 
But,  however  often   you   cite   the  difference    be- 


NO   GIYEK,    NO   CHKISTIAN.  21 

tween  an  agricultural  and  a  commercial  people; 
however  much  you  talk  of  Levites,  tribes,  rent- 
charges,  and  adjustments;  however  many  lanes  you 
enter  from  your  starting-point,  if  you  follow  any  one 
of  them  to  its  end,  it  will  land  you  in  front  of  this 
conclusion :  Chkistianity  has  lowered  the  stan- 
dard OF  A  VIRTUE. 

But  I  will  not  further  follow  the  supposition  that 
the  duty  of  giving  away  at  least  a  tenth  of  our  in- 
come has  no  grounds  ;  for  the  conclusions  to  which 
it  leads  are  not  satisfactory.  I  will  now  assert  that 
it  has  grounds.     They  may  be  thus  stated  : — 

Giving  is  an  essential  part  of  the  Christian 
RELIGION.  This  position  needs  no  special  argument. 
In  support  of  it  the  whole  New  Testament  cries 
aloud.  The  system  of  redemption  is,  from  first  to 
last,  one  prodigious  process  of  gift.  God  loved  the 
world,  and  gave  His  only-begotten  Son.  The  Son 
loved  us,  and  gave  Himself  to  death  for  us  all.  This 
giving  does  not  rest  at  the  point  of  bounty,  but 
passes  on  to  that  of  inconceivable  sacrifice.  Every 
man  on  whose  spirit  the  true  light  of  redemption 
breaks,  finds  himself  heir  to  a  heritage  of  givings, 
which  began  on  the  eve  of  time,  and  will  keep  pace 
wath  the  course  of  eternity:  To  giving  he  owes  his 
all ;  in  giving  he  sees  the  most  substantial  evidence 
he  can  offer,  that  he  is  a  grateful  debtor ;  and  the 
self-sacrifice  of  Him  in  whom  he  trusts  says,  far 
more  pathetically  than  words  could  say,  "  It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

It  is  07^dained  hy  Christianity  that  giving  shall  he 


22  NEITHER  SPAJ5E  NOK  GRUDGE. 

hoth  hountiful  and  cheerful.  It  does  not  satisfy  the 
demands  of  our  religion  that  we  give ;  we  must  give 
much.  ^'  He  that  soweth  sparingly  shall  reap  also 
Bparingly."  This  refers  to  the  amount  of  gifts ;  but 
having  decided  that  the  amount  must  be  unsparing, 
Christianity  is  not  even  then  content ;  that  unsparing 
amount  must  be  given  with  a  cheerful  heart,  "  not 
grudgingly  or  of  necessity ;  for  God  loveth  a  cheer- 
ful giver."  One  of  the  oddest  things  in  all  argument 
is,  that  this  passage  is  sometimes  resorted  to  as  cover 
by  those  who  claim  liberty  to  give  away  as  little  as 
ever  they  please.  Let  them  turn  to  the  passage 
(2  Cor.  ix.  5-7),  and  they  will  see  that  it  is  not  left 
to  them  or  to  any  man  to  decide  whether  giving  shall 
be  on  a  bountiful  or  a  sparing  scale.  That  it  is  not 
to  be  sparing,  and  is  to  be  bountiful,  is  settled ;  and 
then  a  cheerful  heart  is  commanded  in  addition. 
The  twofold  requirement  is  a  gift  not  scaring  as  to 
amount,  nor  grudging  as  to  feeling.  One  may  cheer- 
fully give  a  sparing  gift  who  would  grudge  a  boun- 
tiful one ;  and  one  who,  from  "  necessity,"  from 
pressure,  or  shame,  gives  a  large  gift,  may  grudge 
while  he  gives.  Do  not  spare  when  you  give,  and 
do  not  grudge  when  you  make  sacrifices !  Tliis  is 
the  voice  of  a  passage  which  some  would  fain  use  to 
cloak  their  unwillingness  to  make  liberality  a  regu- 
lated and  well-considered  virtue. 
^  A  sparing,  a  bountiful,  and  a  grudging  giver  may 
all  be  met  with  in  your  every  day  life.  You  call  on 
a  wealthy  gentleman,  Mr.  Close,  for  a  benevolent 
object.  "Yes;  it  is  a  good  cause,  every  one 
ought  to  do  his  share ;  but  really  one  has  so  much 


SPARING,  GRUDGING,  AND  BOUNTIFUL.  23 

to  do,  one  is  always  giving.  However,  I  have  great 
pleasure  in  giving  my  mite  ;  you  are  perfectly  wel- 
come. Gentlemen,  to  this  trifle :"  and  he  gives  you 
five  dollars.  You  modestly  hesitate,  tell  him  that 
much  will  depend  on  his  example,  and  that,  from  his 
position,  you  had  hoped  for  something  considerable, 
say  five  hundred  dollars.  "  O  dear  no  !  I  could 
never  afibrd  that.  That  is  a  subscription  for  a  rich 
man.  I  am  very  happy  to  give  my  mite ;  but  I 
never  thought  of  any  sum  like  that." 

From  this  sparing,  but  cheerful  giver  you  pass  to 
another,  Mr.  Goode.  He  just  hears  you,  and,  puts 
down  his  name  for  a  thousand  dollars.  This  is 
neither  sparing  nor  grudging. 

From  him  you  go  to  Mr.  Sliarpe.  He  hears  your 
statement.  "  O  yes !  all  the  principal  people  are 
giving  to  it.  One  must  do  something  respectable. 
"Will  you  let  me  see  your  book,  gentlemen  ? — What ! 
Goode  down  for  a  thousand  dollars !  I  know  why 
he  did  that.  It  was  to  be  ahead  of  me,  or  rather 
to  spite  me ;  for  he  knew"  I  would  never  be  behind 
him.  It  is  not  the  first  time  he  has  served  me  so ; 
but  I'm  not  going  to  let  him  stand  before  me  for 
the  sake  of  five  hundred  dollars."  And  so  he  puts 
down  a  thousand. 

Now,  while  this  gift  professes  to  be  an  act  done 
out  of  consideration  for  others,  it  is  really  done 
out  of  consideration  for  himself;  and,  while  his 
hand  was  giving,  his  heart  was  grudging. 

The  greedy  man  who  would  grudge  a  large  gift, 
but  makes  a  merit  of  a  small  one ;  and  the  vain  man 
who  must  stand  high,  even  in  giving,  and  grudges 


24:  PROPORTIONATE   GIVING. 

the  price  he  pays  for  his  importance,  are  equally  far 
from  Christianity.  A  bounty  that  reaches  the  point 
of  sacrifice,  and  a  heart-charity  that  rejoices  in  such 
sacrifice,  can  alone  meet  the  call  of  the  Gospel. 

It  is  ordained  hy  Christianity^  that  our  hountiful 
and  cheerfid  giving  shall  he  in  jyroportion  to  our 
means.  '^  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every 
one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God  hath  pros- 
pered himP  Here  the  scale  which  regulates  giving 
is  decisively  taken  from  the  hand  of  impulse,  fashion, 
or  personal  disposition.  Whether  our  giving  is  or 
is  not  to  be  in  proportion  to  the  bounties  of  God  to 
us,  is  no  matter  of  debate.  The  principle  of  propor- 
tion is  enjoined  in  the  I^ew  Testament.  But  the 
passage  decides  nothing  as  to  what  application  of 
the  law  of  proportion  is  to  be  made.  One  who  gives 
a  hundredth  part  of  his  increase,  observes  a  propor- 
tion as  much  as  one  who  gives  a  fifth ;  and  might 
plead  that  he  was  giving  as  God  had  prospered  him, 
if  he  could  find  ground  in  Scripture  for  the  belief 
that  one  hundredth  would  be  acceptable. 

This  scripture,  "As  God  hath  prospered  him," 
forces  us  to  ask,  What  is  giving  in  proportion  to 
God's  gifts  to  us?  If  we  seek  an  answer  in  the 
E'ew  Testament,  everything  seems  to  push  up  the 
scale  to  a  proportion  from  which  we  nearly  all  shrink 
away.  We  find  liberality  in  a  rich  man  sanctioned 
up  to  "half  his  goods,"  as  in  the  case  of  Zaccheus; 
and  in  a  poor  widow  up  to  "  all  her  living,"  as  with 
the  two  mites.  We  find  a  whole  church  selling 
their  property,  and  giving  away  without  limit ;  and 
though  that  example  is  never  enforced  on  others,  it 


NEW-TESTAMENT   PROPORTION.  2$ 

is  never  reproved.  "We  find  the  cliurcli  of  Mace- 
donia, in  "  depths  of  poverty,"  and  also  in  "  a  great 
trial  of  afilictions,"  abounding  in  "  riches  of  liberal- 
ity ;"  and  their  record  is  written  for  the  gratitude  of 
all  ages,  that  they  gave  "be^^ond  their  power." 
These  early  Christians,  who  thus  rejoiced  to  bestow, 
are  melted  to  yet  greater  sacrifices  by  words  so 
winning  and  so  mighty  as,  "Ye  know  the  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  He  was  rich, 
yet  for  your  sakes  He  became  poor^  that  ye  through 
His  poverty  might  be  rich." 

Turn  where  you  will  in  the  New  Testament  in 
search  of  an  answer  to  the  question,  *'  What  is  giving 
as  God  has  prospered  me  ?"  you  are  surrounded  by 
an  atmosphere  of  fervid  joy  and  love ;  solicited 
by  a  feeling  of  which  the  words  are,  "Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will 
to  men ;"  and  the  deeds  are  every  good  work,  distri- 
buting, communicating,  making  sacrifices  with  which 
God  is  well  pleased :  you  are  stimulated  by  examples 
of  Apostles  forsaking  all,  individuals  selling  all, 
churches  bestowing  all,  the  deeply  poor  giving  to 
the  poorer,  and,  to  crown  the  whole,  the  Master 
giving  always,  and  storing  never ;  and  in  the  end 
giving  Himself  a  ransom  for  all.  You  feel  that 
if  you  are  to  take  your  answer  to  the  question  by 
honest,  logical  inference  from  that  Book,  any  thought 
of  a  tenth  is  out  of  sight,  and  you  must  contemplate 
a  style  of  giving  which  no  one  I  know — perhaps  I 
do  know  some  of  the  poor  who  would — but  which  no 
one  of  the  comfortable  classes,  in  our  day,  would 
think  of  following. 

2 


88  OLD-TESTAMENT   PROPORTION. 

If,  fearful  to  press  ISTew-Testament  precept  and 
example,  we  go  to  the  Old  to  learn  what  the  Lord 
counted  acceptable  in  ancient  times,  we  lind  that 
each  head  of  a  family  among  the  Jews  was  bound 
by  direct  enactment  to  give  a  tenth  of  all  his 
yearly  increase  to  the  support  of  the  ministering 
tribe  of  Levi.  Lie  had  to  pay  a  second  tenth  for 
the  support  of  the  feasts;  a  third  tenth  for  the 
poor  once  in  three  years ;  and  in  addition  were  the 
trespass  offerings,  long  and  costly  journeys  to  the 
temple,  and  sundry  other  religious  charges,  all  im- 
posed by  Divine  sanction  ;  besides  free-will  offerings. 
Taking  all  these  items,  it  is  undoubted  that  among 
the  Jews  every  head  of  a  family  was  under  religious 
obligation  to  give  away  at  least  a  fifth,  perhajps  a 
third,  of  his  yearly  income. 

Passing  on  to  the  Patriarchs,  you  find  Jacob, 
when  houseless,  awaking  from  his  sleep  by  the  road- 
side, solemnly  vowing  to  the  God  of  his  fathers,  that 
if  only  "  bread  to  eat  and  raiment  to  put  on  "  were 
granted  to  him  in  his  exile,  a  tenth  of  all  should 
be  rendered  back  in  honour  of  his  God.  And  fur- 
ther up,  where  you  see  Abraham,  the  father  and 
representative  of  all  believers,  standing  before  Mel- 
chizedek,  the  type,  not  of  Ihe  Levitical  priesthood, 
but  of  our  Great  High  Priest,  he  gives  him  a  tenth 
of  all.  The  goods  were  the  property  of  others, 
of  which  he  would  not,  for  his  private  benefit,  take 
"  from  a  thread  to  a  shoe-latchet ;"  but  yet  he 
asserted  the  claims  of  the  Lord  upon  all. 

Thus,   in   the   patriarchal    dispensation,   a  tenth 
seems  to  be  the  portion  which  the  Lord  accepts. 


OLD-TESTAMENT   PKOPOKTION.  2T 

In  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  that  proportion  is 
raised  to  at  least  a  fifth  by  express  ordinances; 
and  when  we  come  into  the  Gospel  dispensation, 
we  are  sensible  at  once  of  a  notable  rise  in  the  tem- 
perature of  benevolence.  Here  the  idea  of  a 
religion  less  generous,  less  self-denying,  less  superior 
to  sordid  hoards  or  personal  comforts,  is  not  only 
inadmissible,  but  atrocious.  "Whatever  of  heaven- 
liness  and  large  heart  was  in  the  religion  of 
Prophets,  receives  an  expansion  and  not  a  chill,  and 
selfish  man  is  placed  at  last  in  his  highest  school  of 
unselfishness. 

Whether,  then,  we  take  the  Old  Testament  or 
the  IN'ew,  the  lowest  proportion  of  giving  for  which 
we  can  find  any  pretext,  or  foot-hold  whatever,  in 
command  or  in  precedent,  is  one  tenth.  He  who 
fixes  on  this,  deliberately  fixes  on  far  less  than  was 
required  of  a  Jew.  He  who  fixes  on  less  than  this, 
deliberately  excludes  all  Scripture  instruction,  and 
chooses  a  standard  for  which  no  part  of  God's  word 
offers  a  justification. 

But  several  objections  are  taken  against  our  con- 
clusion ;  some  of  which  we  ought  to  notice. 

"  In  urging  ujpon  us  to  give  away  a  tenth,  you  are 
reviving  the  Levitical  law,  and  that  is  alolishedP 
The  difference  between  those  who  hold  that  it  stands, 
and  those  who  hold  that  it  is  abolished,  lies  perhaps 
more  in  word  than  reality.  Those  who  hold  that 
it  stands,  would  hardly  contend  that  the  letter  is 
in  force ;  for  that  was,  that  the  tenth  should  be  given 
to  the  tribe  of  Levi,  which,  to  the  letter,  we  cannot 
fulfil.    And  those  who  hold  that  it  is  abolished, 


28  THE   LAW   IS   LOVE. 

surelj  do  not  mean  that  its  spirit  is  abolished.  The 
spirit  of  that  law  is,  "  Of  Thine  own  have  we  given 
unto  Thee."  This  is  not  abolished ;  and,  blessed 
be  God,  never  will  be !  And  snrely  you  do  not 
mean  that  this  spirit,  a  spirit  so  right  and  good, 
in  passing  from  Judaism  to  Christianity,  forsook  a 
more  sensitive  body,  for  one  grosser  and  heavier 
with  earth  I  We  need  not  pause  to  show  that, 
quite  independently  of  the  Levitical  tenth,  the  other 
requirements  of  the  Mosaic  law  demand  more  than 
a  second  tenth ;  and  that  the  Patriarchs  gave  their 
tenth  before  ever  Levi  was. 

"  But  we  are  not  now  to  he  hr ought  under  rule;  for 
the  law  is  loveP  I  know  that  some  who  thus 
speak,  do  so  upon  the  best  grounds.  A  good  man 
has  a  small  income  and  a  large  family ;  he  has 
also  a  warm  heart,  and  his  neighbours  know  it. 
Though  he  never  adopted  any  specific  proportion, 
he  is  conscious,,  and  so  is  his  wife,  by  daily  expe- 
rience, that  he  gives  away  "  to  his  power,  yea,  and 
beyond  bis  power."  When  he  hears  of  fixing  a 
rule,  and  walking  by  it,  he  feels  that  for  him  it  is 
unnecessary ;  and  he  pleads,  "  The  law  is  loveP 
Were  all  like  him,  most  gladly  should  we  leave  it 
here.  But  many  whose  heart  has  never  led  them 
into  the  troubles  of  over-giving,  gladly  catch  up  his 
words,  and,  as  a  simple  defence  against  giving  some- 
thing definite,  cry,  "  The  law  is  love.''^ 

To  you  who  use  this  objection  we  have  only  one 
thing  to  say :  If  the  law  is  love,  will  you  keep  the 
law?  Then  all  we  contend  for,  and  more  than  all,  is 
secured.    Among  laws,  none  is  near  so  exacting  as 


SAVING  MONEY   BY   LOVE. 


love.  It  has  never  felt,  never  done,  never  given 
enough.  It  is  "  never  ending,  still  beginning."  Its 
great  things  of  yesterday,  are  little  things  to-day; 
and  its  great  things  to-day,  will  be  little  things 
to-morrow.  The  law  of  love!  It  is,  "Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself ^'^  And  you  invoke  the  law  of 
love  to  save  jour  money  ! 

As  a  matter  for  personal  guidance,  the  definite 
meaning  of  this  expression  is  something  like  this : 
"  The  heart  that  is  right  is  full  of  love.  Love  fulfils 
all  law,  and  secures  the  rights  of  God  and  man. 
Therefore  the  heart  that  is  right  is  a  law  to  itself, 
and  needs  no  other  rule.  But  my  heart  is  right, 
and  is  sure  to  fulfil  the  law  without  special  rules." 
Is  that  safe  reasoning?  If  your  heart  be  so  right 
to-day,  may  it  not  wax  cold  some  other  day  ?  and 
would  it  not  be  well  to  have  a  test  by  which  to  try 
its  warmth  \  Or  may  there  not  be  some  like  me, 
who  cannot  trust  so  surely  to  their  heart ;  but  feel 
that  it  is  a  wholesome  thing,  to  have  clear  rules 
whereby  its  dispositions  may  be  often  measured  ? 

Love  may  be  a  good  reason  for  going  above  rules; 
but  it  is  the  worst  in  the  world  for  staying  below 
them,  or  without  them.  It  is  a  law  of  love  which 
binds  a  man  to  provide  for  the  comfort  of  his  family ; 
but  surely  that  is  no  reason  why  he  should  refuse  to 
give  his  wife  a  regular  allowance  for  the  expenses  of 
housekeeping. 

"  But  yoit  speak  of  giving  a  tenth  : — that  is  an 
arithmetical  law  j  and  you  will  never  hring  the 
hearts  of  Christians  wfider  a  cold  arithmetical  lawP 


•30  AN   ARITHMETICAL   LAW. 

This  is  a  very  tremendous  objection.  Half  the  sym- 
pathies of  an  audience  are  in  danger  of  being  lost 
the  moment  they  hear  that  our  rule  is  a  cold  arith- 
metical law.  Arithmetic  sounds  of  school-books, 
and  counting-houses,  and  markets,  and  hard  prob- 
lems, and  dry  statistics,  and  other  ungenerous  things. 
Well,  it  is  so,  and  we  cannot  deny  it ;  to  say  you 
are  bound  to  give  away  at  the  very  least  a  tenth  of 
your  all,  is  to  speak  the  language  of  arithmetic. 
But  is  the  principle  the  less  sacred  for  that? 
"Kemember  the  seventh  day  to  keep  it  holy." 
That  is  an  arithmetical  ex23ression!  And  is  there 
any  thing  unhallowed  in  the  Sabbath  because  a 
square  seventh  is  cut  oif  from  our  time,  and  is  just 
in  that  arithmetical  proportion  to  be  consecrated  to 
God  ?  Again :  it  is  ordained  that  a  Bishop  shall  be 
the  husband  of  but  one  wife,  which  is  an  arithmeti- 
cal law. 

But  if  our  spacious  friends  who  object  to  narrow 
arithmetical  laws  will  observe  their  own  givings,  it 
will  prove  that  somehow  arithmetic  follows  them 
wherever  they  go.  For  if  you  do  not  give  a  tenth, 
but  a  ninetieth,  even  that  is  an  arithmetical  propor- 
tion ;  and  if,  instead  of  giving  a  tenth  all  the  year 
through,  you  only  give  a  tenth  of  one  day's  income 
for  the  whole  year,  still  that  is  an  arithmetical  pro- 
portion,— though  it  might  be  hard  to  ascertain  it: 
and,  in  fact,  go  down  however  low  you  may,  if  you 
give  any  thing  whatever,  at  any  time  whatever,  it 
still  bears  an  arithmetical  proportion  to  the  whole. 
Did  we  name  a  tenth  as  the  high  standard  of  Chris- 
tian benevolence,  and  confine  ourselves  to  it,  we 


CONTENT  WITH  TOO  LOW  A  PROPORTION.     31 

might  be  taunted  with  arithmetic ;  but  when  we 
name  it  only  as  the  lowest  point  at  which  any  foot- 
ing can  be  found,  and  leave  all  above  free,  that 
arrow  flies  below  us. 

*'  But  if  you  teach  men  to  give  a  tenths  they  will 
give  that  and  he  content,  though  they  ought  to  he 
giving  much  moreP  This  is  an  objection  of  real 
gravity.  Doubtless,  did  we  succeed  in  producing 
generally  in  the  churches  the  state  of  feeling,  that 
all  were  bound  to  give  at  least  a  tenth,  many  would 
think  themselves  generous  in  giving  that,  when  per- 
haps a  third  or  a  half  would  be  only  their  just 
proportion.  But  how  do  matters  stand  at  present? 
Multitudes  of  sincere  Christians  are  royally  content, 
though  they  give  nothing  like  a  tenth  ;  and  could  we 
succeed  in  bringing  up  the  church  generally  to  that 
proportion,  (though  far  below  what  we  hold  to  be 
the  due  of  many,)  the  state  of  things  then  would 
present  a  wonderful  improvement  on  that  existing 
now. 

But  I  question  whether  adopting  the  principle  of 
proportion  would  tend  to  make  men  content  with 
the  minimum  proportion,  after  they  were  abundantly 
prospered.  So  far  as  my  knowledge  of  its  practical 
working  goes,  my  impression  is  the  reverse.  It  is 
my  pleasure  to  know  many  men  who,  at  the  outset 
of  life,  or  early  in  life,  adopted  Jacob's  resolution  to 
give  a  tenth.  These  have  all  been  prosperous  men. 
I  do  not  know  one  of  them  but  shows  that  the  effect 
of  his  early  adopting  the  principle  of  a  tenth,  has 
been  to  prepare  him  for  a  higher  proportion  when 
years  of  plenty  set  in. 


dSk  IS   IT   OUR  DUTY  TO   GIVE  ALL? 

,  And  is  it  not  natural  that  such  should  be  the 
effect  ?  There  is  a  great,  not  to  say  a  tremendous, 
power  over  man  in  that  very  principle  of  arith- 
metical proportion  which  it  is  so  easy  to  spurn. 
When  an  arbitrary  proportion  of  our  time  or  goods 
is  taken, — a  proportion  for  which  reason  has  no  more 
to  say  than  for  any  other, — what  is  the  effect  upon 
the  mind?  It  serves  as  a  practical  claim  of  sove- 
reignty on  the  part  of  the  Creator.  It  says,  ''  This 
is  claimed,  because  all  might  be  claimed.  He  who 
accepts  this,  owns  all,  and  holds  you  to  account  for 
the  rest."  It  is  not  probable  that  year  after  yearN 
one  will  carefully  set  apart  a  fixed  proportion  for  the 
service  of  his  God,  without  becoming  habituated  to 
feel  that  he  is  neither  author  nor  owner  of  any  frac- 
tion of  property,  but  merely  steward  ;  and  that  He 
at  whose  feet  he  lays  the  first-fruits  is  the  Lord,  the 
Giver  of  all.  Such  stated  setting  apart  is  a  prac- 
tical keeping  of  the  precept :  "  Thou  shalt  remember 
the  Lord  thy  God :  for  it  is  He  that  giveth  thee 
power  to  get  wealth."  And  whoever  thus  begins 
life  by  keeping  a  law  of  proportion,  is  the  most 
likely  of  all  men  to  advance  his  proportion,  as  his 
Benefactor  augments  his  blessing. 

"  But  we  ought  not  to  sjpeak  of  a  tenths  a  fifths  or 
any  other  proportion  /  our  duty  as  Christians  is  to 
give  ally  That  is  not  correct.  Our  duty  is  not  to 
give  away  all ;  but  to  employ  all  according  to  the 
will  of  God,  and  so  as  to  be  pleasing  in  His  sight. 
It  is  our  positive  duty  not  to  give  away  all ;  but  to 
spend  suitable  proportions  of  our  income  in  supply- 
ing our  own  wants,  and  those  of  our  families,  as 


GIVING   WHAT   WE   CAN   SPAEE.  33 

also  in  fulfilling  any  commercial  or  other  calling  for 
which  property  is  needful.  Our  objector  replies, 
"  Of  course,  what  I  meant  was,  all  after  our  reason- 
able wants  are  supplied.  We  ought  to  give  abso- 
lutely all  the  surplus,  and  not  save  any." 

In  the  lips  of  some — and  I  could  name  the  very 
man — this  means  noble  and  incessant  liberality ;  but 
in  the  lips  of  most,  it  would  just  mean  giving  as 
much  as  was  perfectly  convenient.  If  every  one, 
before  assigning  any  portion  as  a  thank-offering  to 
the  Giver  of  all,  is  to  spend  what  meets  his  views 
of  providing  for  his  own  and  his  children's  wants, 
present  and  prospective,  in  ninety-nine  out  of  every 
hundred  cases  it  will  prove  that  the  surplus  for 
giving  away  is  next  to  nothing.  In  many  cases, 
giving  liberally  will  be  postponed  till  family  provi- 
sion is  made,  till  resources  are  fairly  in  advance  of 
demands ;  and  by  that  time  all  heart  for  giving  will 
he  gone.  In  fact,  this  rule  of  giving  away  all  you 
have  to  spare,  is  that  by  which  multitudes  think 
they  are  living ;  whereas,  could  they  get  an  account 
of  all  they  gave  on  this  system  last  year,  and  resolve 
next  year  to  consecrate  the  small  proportion  of  a 
tenth,  they  would  be  utterly  astonished  to  find  how 
much  the  latter  exceeds  their  habitual  liberality. 

One  strong  reason  for  some  definite  rule  lies  in 
this :  That  we  have  far  better  memories  for  our  vir- 
tues, than  for  our  obligations — for  the  dollars  we 
give  away,  than  for  those  we  receive,  or  spend  upon 
ourselves.  Even  truly  excellent  persons,  who  have 
not  tested  their  givings,  monstrously  exaggerate  the 
amount  of  them  to  their  own  mind.     The  relish  of 

2* 


34  THE   FIKST   CLAIM   UPON   US. 

one  act  of  liberality  remains  long  upon  the  lips ;  and 
some  who  believe  that  "  their  hand  is  never  out  of 
their  pocket,"  would  be  confounded  if  the  great 
account  where  all  items  are  entered  were  placed 
before  them,  and  they  saw  how  miserably  little  their 
endless  deeds  of  generosity  amount  to.  The  first 
expenditure  of  all  should  be  that  which  sanctifies 
the  rest — that  which  is  not  for  self,  or  flesh,  or  earth, 
or  time,  but  for  the  Lord,  for  gratitude,  for  the  train- 
ing of  the  soul,  for  store  in  heaven.  Our  own  morsel 
will  be  sweeter,  and  more  wholesome  too,  when  the 
due  acknowledgment  has  been  first  laid,  with  a  boun- 
tiful hand  and  a  thankful  heart,  on  the  altar  of  the 
Saviour.  "  Ye  shall  eat  neither  bread,  nor  parched 
corn,  nor  green  ears,  until  the  selfsame  day  that  ye 
have  hrought  an  offering  unto  your  God."  (Lev. 
xxiii.  14.)  This  was  the  spirit  of  the  first-fruits — a 
spirit  of  noble  preference  for  the  honour  of  God  over 
selfish  care. 

Another  advantage  of  deciding  that  a  consecrated 
proportion  shall  take  the  precedence  of  all  other 
outlay,  instead  of  counting  on  giving  what  we  have 
to  spare,  is  this :  It  materially  affects  our  scale  of 
personal  expenditure.  Our  ideas  of  what  is  neces- 
sary are  ruled  by  our  knowledge  of  what  we  have  to 
spend.  A  gentleman  with  five  thousand  a  year,  who 
means  to  give  away  what  he  can  spare,  unless  he  be 
a  man  of  extraordinary  generosity  and  decision 
united  (which  cases  are  never  the  rule),  forms  his 
whole  scheme  of  expenditure  on  the  basis  of  five 
thousand  a  year,  and  finds  it  hard,  now  and  then,  to 
spare  a  dollar  or  two ;  not  that  he  is  unwilling,  but 


SHOULD  THE   POOR   GIVE?  35 

all  his  resources  are  pre-engaged.  Another  with  the 
same  income  has  his  regular  Benevolent  Fund,  into 
which  the  first  fifth  of  his  income  goes.  Tlie  efi'ect 
is,  that  all  his  plans  of  expenditure  proceed  on  the 
basis  of  four  thousand  a  year ;  and  thus  while  the 
Benevolent  Fund  is  strong  for  all  legitimate  claims, 
it  pays  itself — perhaps  more  than  pays  itself — by 
acting  as  a  check  upon  the  Yanity  Fund,  the  Hobby 
Fund,  the  Folly  Fund,  and  several  other  exigent 
funds  on  which  thousands  of  our  domestic  revenues 
are  wasted.  We,  then,  hesitate  not  for  a  moment  to 
prefer  the  rule  of  giving  regular  first-fruits,  even  in 
the  low  proportion  of  a  tenth,  over  the  rule  of  giving 
all  we  have  to  spare.  This  last,  while  for  a  strong 
and  holy  man  the  highest  of  laws,  is  for  the  great 
majority  a  law  which  amounts  to  no  more  than  is 
now  prevalent. 

'  '^But^  at  all  events^  surely  you  would  not  apply 
your  rule  to  the  poor.^''  Certainly  not  to  the  desti- 
tute. One  object  of  liberality  is  to  relieve  and  com- 
fort them.  But  rising  above  those  who  need  help,/ 
upon  whom  do  you  fix  as  poor  ?  The  man  who  can^ 
afford  to  spend  money  on  liquors  or  segars,  is  he 
poor  ?  The  woman  who  can  afford  to  spend  money 
on  fineries,  is  she  poor  ?  It  would  be  no  small  bless- 
ing, if  some  of  those  well-meaning  but  ill-judging 
persons  who  are  continually  telling  the  poor  that 
they  are  too  poor  to  do  any  good,  or  support  any 
cause,  would  stand  out  of  the  way  of  the  poor.  The 
worst  thing  you  can  do  for  a  man,  is  to  pauperize 
him.  If  a  poor  man  reads  this — and  I  hope  many 
will — I  would  say  to  him,  Never  count  that  man 


36  PATTPEEIZING   A  MAN. 

your  friend  who  teaches  you  to  lean  on  other  people. 
He  is  your  friend,  and  your  children's  friend,  who 
teaches  you  to  lean  alone  on  the  good  providence  of 
God,  and  on  your  own  right  hand. 

On  the  very  same  grounds  that  it  is  a  serious 
injury  to  a  man  to  pauperize  him,  it  is  a  great 
service  to  teach  him  to  save  something,  and  give  it 
away.  The  one  induces  feebleness,  the  other  power : 
the  one  inclines  him  to  be  listless  in  earning,  and 
thriftless  in  spending;  the  other  to  be  alert  in  earn- 
ing, and  careful  in  spending.  The  moment  a  man 
begins  to  save  sometliing  and  give  it  away,  he  rises 
in  the  social  scale,  and  takes  his  place  in  the  family 
circle  of  benefactors.  As  to  the  godly  poor,  I  will 
test  this  whole  question  of  proportionate  giving  by 
their  verdict,  sooner  than  by  that  of  any  other  class. 
Let  some  of  those  who  would  bid  us  not  ask  them  to 
give,  learn  what  they  do,  and,  perhaps,  they  will 
look  anew  to  their  own  proportions.  And  when  one 
sees  how  the  poor  tax  themselves  by  waste,  by  hurt- 
ful luxuries,  by  ill-spent  time,  how  often  their  spare 
money,  not  pre-engaged  for  good  ends,  is  the  cause 
of  their  ruin,  one  feels  indignant  at  those  self-consti- 
tuted friends  of  theirs  who  would  protect  them  from 
the  calls  of  generosity — the  very  calls  which  would 
raise  and  make  men  of  them  ;  and  we  say,  Stand  out 
of  the  way  of  the  poor ! 

There  was  One  who  was  no  amateur  in  poverty, 
but  had  known  it  from  the  manger,  in  His  own  lot 
and  that  of  His  friends.  Did  He  think  it  a  pity 
that  the  widow  should  give  away  her  two  mites  ?  or 
did  He  tell  Maiy  that  the  exceedingly  costly  box 


ST.  Paul's  reformed  thief.  37 

of  ointment  was  too  much  for  one  of  her  means  ? 
And  when  the  Prophet  heard  from  the  widow  of 
whom  he  had  begged  a  little  bread,  that  she  was  so 
poor  as  to  say,  "•  I  have  not  a  cake,"  did  he  think  it 
would  be  a  loss  to  her  to  give,  for  the  Lord's  sake,  a 
little  of  her  meal  1  He  who  delights  in  mercy  has 
never  yet  denied  to  the  poor  the  joy  of  giving.  St. 
Paul  plainly  contemplates  giving  as  the  immediate 
result  of  labour  in  the  case  of  one  recovered  from 
the  class  of  thieves.  "  Let  him  that  stole  steal  no 
more :  but  rather  let  him  labour,  working  with  his 
own  hands  the  thing  that  is  good,  that  he  Tuay  have 
to  give  to  him  that  needeth.^'^  (Eph.  iv.  28.)  If,  then, 
a  reformed  thief,  just  beginning  to  earn  his  own 
bread,  is  at  once  to  set  before  him  the  joy  of  giving 
away  a  share  of  his  earnings,  who  dare  degrade  the 
working  men  of  Christendom,  by  telling  them  they 
are  to  look  on  themselves  as  meant  only  to  feed  their 
own  wants  ?  O  what  a  blessing  had  it  been  to  many 
a  poor  working  man,  what  a  saving  to  his  means, 
what  a  comfort  to  his  home,  had  his  father  trained 
him  to  honour  the  Lord  with  the  first-fruits  of  all  his 
increase ! 

^^But  there  are  those  whom  we  do  not  call  the  poor, 
who  yet  are  in  more  straits  than  they — -jpersons  of 
small  means  and  respectable  position^  I  should  be 
the  last  man  on  earth  to  press  hard  on  that  class. 
There  are  no  sorrows  I  would  hold  more  sacred  than 
theirs,  who  unite  in  themselves  the  feelings  of  the 
rich  and  the  fortunes  of  the  poor.  Poverty  is  a  cold 
wind  ;  and  the  higher  your  situation,  the  colder  it 
blows.    But  this  is  to  be  said  :  However  sacred  may 


9^  PLEA   FOR   PRACTICE. 

be  the  claims  of  respectability,  of  tbe  desire  to 
honour  your  family,  and  maintain  your  appearances, 
more  sacred  still  are  the  claims  of  gratitude,  piety, 
and  goodness.  Nor  will  it  ever  prove  that  what  you 
painfully  spare  from  your  own  respectability  for  the 
purpose  of  honouring  your  God,  will  fail  to  bring 
back  its  reward.  "Them  that  honour  Me,  I  will 
honour." 

These  are  the  chief  objections  to  our  argument; 
and  having  thus  noticed  them,  I  now  proceed  to — 

Plead  for  practical  attention  to  the  duty. 

By  "  practical  attention  to  "  it,  I  do  not  mean  that 
"we  should  be  much  interested  in  the  subject,  feel 
ourselves  in  a  very  generous  frame,  and  intend  to  be 
much  more  liberal  than  we  have  been ;  then  com- 
fortably come  round,  in  the  course  of  a  week  or  two, 
to  our  old  habits.  By  "  practical  attention  to  "  it,  I 
mean  something  different  from  all  this, — something 
decided,  something  instant,  something  permanent 
and  life-long.  I  mean  that  every  one,  in  solemn 
gratitude  to  God,  and  under  an  humble  sense  that 
He  is  owner  and  they  are  stewards,  should  now, 
and  irrevocably  resolve  that  by  the  help  of  Divine 
grace,  henceforth  to  the  day  when  money  ceases  to 
be  treasure,  "  Of  all  that  Thou  shalt  give  me,  I 

WILL    surely    give   THE   TENTH   TO   ThEE." 

This  resolve  once  come  to,  it  only  remains  that,  at 
stated  times,  the  consecrated  portion  of  what  the 
Lord  gives  you  be  set  apart  for  His  service;  and 
that  it  be  cheerfully  given  away.  Tliose  stated 
times  may  be  either  weekly,  quarterly,  half-yearly, 


ARE   EELIGIOUS   MEN   SINCERE?  89 

or  yearly,  according  as  you  can  ascertain  your  in- 
come. Those  are  points  of  detail  of  the  utmost 
importance,  which  any  one  who  is  really  resolved 
will  soon  adjust  for  himself.  But  my  point  is  to 
obtain  the  firm  resolution  of  steady  and  habitual 
liberality  for  all  that  remains  of  life.  I  do  not  want 
a  temporary  surface  glow,  but  a  permanent  quick- 
ening of  the  circulation,  by  greater  strength  at  the 
heart.  Life  is  ebbing,  time  is  flying,  opportunities 
of  doing  good  are  daily  growing  fewer,  and  the 
moment  is  come  for  something  practical.  I  plead, 
then,  most  importunately  plead,  for  practical  atten- 
tion to  this  duty  now,  I  plead  for  man's  sake,  for 
the  Gospel's  sake,  for  the  Lord's  sake^  for  your  own 
sake. 

I  PLEAD  FOR  man's  SAKE,  that  men  may  learn  that 
Christians  are  sincere.  Thousands  dwell  in  the 
midst  of  us  who  never  thought  of  formally  disbe- 
lieving the  word  of  God ;  yet  they  have  a  habitual 
suspicion,  more  than  a  suspicion,  that  the  practical 
religion  of  religious  men  is  only  a  seemly  garb 
which  is  beautiful  on  Sunday,  serves  to  go  to  church 
in,  and  is  at  all  times  respectable.  This  suspicion 
is  one  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  to  their  own 
conversion.  There  are  in  this  city  hundreds  who 
would  be  brought  nearer  to  salvation,  did  they  only 
feel  in  their  conscience  that  the  faith,  hope,  and  love 
of  Christian  men  are  not  a  profession,  but  a  matter 
of  the  heart.  ITow  all  worldly  men  have  one  deep 
instinct :  they  believe  that  a  7nan  is  sincere  in  what 


40  THE   SEA   OF  GLASS. 

lie  will  pay  for.  If  tliey,  then,  see  religious  men 
cheerfully  and  largely  paying  for  their  religion,  the 
habit  of  doubting  their  sincerity  will  gradually  be 
worn  away.  And  surely  those  principles  are  worth 
little  which  are  not  worth  paying  for.  A  religion 
that  did  not  check  our  selfishness  could  not  come 
from  a  God  of  love.  He  who  is  not  willing  to  pay 
for  his  religion  has  no  right  to  have  a  religion. 
Creatures  there  are,  and  creatures,  too,  calling  them- 
selves Christians  above  all  names,  who  would  fain 
take  the  benefit  of  Jesus'  religion  of  love,  without  it 
costing  them  any  thing  !  O,  could  we  lift  one  such 
soul  up  and  up  into  yonder  celestial  light,  and  there 
set  it  upon  the  Sea  of  Glass: — as  it  saw  its  own 
image  reflected  in  that  sea,  with  so  much  of  greed, 
of  earthiness,  of  self,  of  meanness,  shown  in  the 
blaze  of  that  day,  would  it  not  shriek  out  in  terror, 
that  heaven  was  the  most  horrible  exposing  place 
whereinto  a  poor  wretch  was  ever  driven  ? 

I 

I  plead  for  man's  sake,  that  men  may  learn  that 

Providence  is  'benevolent.  One  most  ruinous  influ- 
ence at  work  in  society  is  the  general  distrust  in  the 
vigilance  of  a  power  which  befriends  the  right.  Most 
men  believe  they  can  prosper  more  quickly  and 
more  surely  by  keeping  an  easy  conscience  than  a 
pure  one,  by  practising  clever  evasions  of  right  than 
by  boldly  shunning  all  known  wrong.  To  confront 
this  unbelief,  to  demonstrate  before  all  men  that  the 
Power  above  us  does  smile  upon  uprightness  and 
generosity,  is  the  high  calling  of  every  godly  man. 


IS   COMMERCE   SELFISH?  4} 

You  are  not  only  to  obtain  your  neighbour's  admis- 
sion that  the  Lord  is  King  of  the  world  to  come, — 
they  are  ready  enough  to  grant  that :  another  point 
needful  for  their  salvation  is  to  bring  them  to  feel 
that  He  is  Lord  and  King  of  the  world  that  now  is. 
They  easily  believe  that  He  is  the  disposer  of  crowns 
and  harps  hereafter ;  but  they  do  not  so  easily  be- 
lieve that  He  is  the  disposer  of  dollars  and  cents ! 
Doubting  here,  for  the  sake  of  the  pressing  to-day, 
they  risk  the  infinite  but  unfelt  to-morrow.  Satan 
ever  boasts,  as  he  did  to  our  Master,  that  both  the 
good  and  the  glory  of  this  world  are  in  his  power, 
and  that  to  whomsoever  he  will  he  gives  them.  To 
deny  this  claim,  to  maintain  the  opposite,  to  lead 
men  to  turn  upward  a  reverent  eye,  and  say  loyally 
to  the  Lord  of  all,  "  Both  riches  and  honour  come  of  ' 
Thee,"  nothing  is  so  effectual  as  that  all  God's  serv- 
ants shall  sacredly  honour  Him  with  the  first-fruits  < 
of  their  increase.  Doing  this,  it  will  soon  be  seen 
that  they  who  acknowledge  Providence  bloom  in  its 
sunshine,  and  that  seldom  indeed  is  one  of  their 
number  struck  with  a  blight.  Bands — not  here  and 
there  an  individual,  as  much  an  exception  in  the 
church  as  in  the  world,  but — large  bands  of  open- 
handed  men,  whose  works  prosper  and  whose  homes 
rejoice,  will  stand  before  the  world  living  witnesses 
that  we  are  not  given  over  to  the  keeping  of  a  demon 
who  pampers  wrong  and  famishes  goodness. 

I  plead  for  man's  sake — that  men  may  learn  that 
commerce  is  lenewlent.     It  is  not  more  hurtful  than 


42  WEATDER  AND  COMMERCE. 

wonderful  how  generally  even  good  men  look  on 
commerce  merely  as  an  engine  for  fortune-making, 
and  a  field  of  battle  for  all  the  selfish  passions.  Even 
grave  divines  may  be  found  calling  commerce  "  the 
god  of  this  world,"  with  just  the  same  propriety  and 
truth  as  they,  professing  to  quote  Scripture,  call 
money  "the  root  of  all  evil."  "Well,  but  is  not 
commerce  a  hatefully  selfish  thing?"  Is  not  weather 
a  selfish  thing?  Both  are  appointed  by  Providence 
for  the  same  end ;  both  perverted  by  man  to  the 
same  abuse.  For  the  threefold  purpose  of  provision- 
ing, clothing,  and  adorning  this  world  and  its  inha- 
bitants, the  Lord  has  made  a  great  unconscious 
machinery  of  sky  and  sea,  soil  and  air,  and  appointed 
intelligent  workers  to  watch  its  processes,  and  com- 
plete the  result.  K'either  weather  nor  commerce 
separately  will  suffice  for  the  provisioning,  clothing, 
and  adorning  of  our  world.  "Without  the  mechani- 
cal agents  the  intelligent  workers  are  impotent; 
without  the  intelligent  workers  the  mechanical 
agents  revolve  in  vain. 

The  covetous  imderwriter  makes  the  storms  the 
servants  of  his  creed ;  the  greedy  corn-speculator 
turns  the  blessed  sunbeams  into  tools  of  gain ;  the 
bloodthirsty  buccaneer  makes  the  genial  breeze 
serve  as  charger  in  his  murdering  onset.  Looking  at 
these  disgusting  perversions  of  the  Lord's  instru- 
ments, are  we  to  forget  that,  above  evil  eyes  and 
unholy  hands,  One  is  guiding  the  weather  for  the 
good  of  all  ?  And  coming  into  commerce — the  pro- 
vidential play  of  intelligent  agents  for  our  comfort — 


BENEVOLENCE   PEOMISING   HAPPINESS.  43 

are  we  to  look  at  the  lower  side,  the  motives  of 
traders,  and  forget  the  higher  side,  the  design  and 
actual  result  wrought  out  by  Providence  ?  It  is  like 
the  web  of  a  cunning  weaver :  on  the  lower  side  you 
find  only  tangled  threads,  on  the  upper  only  bloom- 
ing flowers.  Look  at  commerce  as  regarded  by  the 
hearts  of  buyer  and  seller,  and  selfish  indeed  is  the 
scene ;  look  at  it  as  designed,  ay,  as  actually  wrought 
out,  by  the  Ruler  above,  and  you  see  every  man  in  a 
city  provided  by  the  hands  of  others  with  all  things 
which  earth  can  ofier  to  his  convenience,  in  such 
proportion  as  his  means  will  command.  Rise  up, 
then,  ye  Christian  men,  ye  who  know  a  God,  and 
bless  a  Providence,  rise  up,  and  testify  that  this  com- 
merce, which  busies  your  masses,  is  not  a  lawless 
scramble,  but  a  beneficent  appointment  whereby 
every  one  may  become  a  co-worker  with  Heaven  in 
plenishing  and  provisioning  the  homes  of  men !  Let 
all  see  that,  when  well-won  gains  come  into  your 
hand,  you  have  a  joy  in  scattering  them  abroad,  to 
spread  temporal  and  eternal  happiness  among  that 
race  for  whom  all  winds  blow,  and  all  markets  are 
opened. 

I  plead  for  man's  sake,  that  practical  lenevolence 
may  he  increased.  Of  all  sources  of  happiness  in  a 
community,  none  acts  so  greatly  and  pervasively  as  a 
spirit  of  true  benevolence.  IS'othing  would  so  much 
assnage  private  griefs,  or  so  greatly  smooth  the  rela- 
tions of  class  with  class,  as  the  general  spread  of 
that   sacred  brother-love,  that  true  fellow-feeling, 


44  ADORNING   THE   GOSPEL. 

which  breathes  so  sweetlj  in  our  Christian  Scrip- 
tures. That  widows  may  not  weep  unconsoled  ;  that 
orphans  may  not  roam  friendless ;  that  wayward 
men  may  not  pass  a  lifetime  within  sound  of  church- 
bells,  without  ever  hearing  inside  their  own  door  a 
word  of  loving  exhortation ;  that  the  poor  may  not 
be  set  against  the  rich  by  envy ;  that  the  rich  may 
not  be  estranged  from  the  poor  by  contempt ;  that 
real  Heathens  may  not  live  and  die  in  the  heart  of 
Christendom  ;  that  nations  of  Pagans  may  not  sit  on 
and  on  in  the  darkness  of  their  fathers ; — in  a  word, 
that  this  cold  world  may  be  warmer,  and  this  trou- 
bled race  have  more  joy,  open  your  hand  and  give  ; 
for  man's  sake,  give ! 

I 

I  PLEAD  FOR  THE  Gospel's  SAKE,  that  it  may  1)6 
fitly  represented.  That  is  not  its  own  word  ;  but  one 
almost  fears  to  nse  its  own,  it  is  so  strong.  "  That  ye 
may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  yonr  Saviour  in  all 
things."  Adorn  that  doctrine !  See  it  so  pure,  so 
bright,  lovely  in  the  likeness  of  its  Author,  and  then 
say  where  is  the  life  that  is  to  be  to  it,  not  a  veil  to 
dim  its  beauties,  not  a  spot  to  mar  its  charm,  but  an 
ornamerit — what  a  jewel  is  to  the  brow  of  a  fair 
woman,  an  attraction  for  eyes  and  admiration ! 
'  "Where  is  the  life  that  really  adorns  the  Gospel  ? 
Surely  it  is  not  that  of  a  man  who  calls  himself  a 
Christian,  and  yet  to  whom  no  one  will  turn  in  his 
need,  as  to  a  certain  friend,  for  body  or  for  soul. 
Alas  for  that  man  from  whose  door  a  neighbour  in 
distress  instinctively  turns  away ;  to  whom  collectors 


RESULTS   OF   ADOPTING   THIS   PRINCIPLE.  45 

for  any  holy  work  never  think  of  going !  O,  who 
would  rest  nnder  a  roof  upon  which  no  man's  bless- 
ing comes  ?  JSTot  long  ago  one  rich  man  was  letting 
a  splendid  seat  to  another  rich  man,  and,  mistaking 
the  character  of  his  customer,  he  stated,  among  the 
many  attractions  of  the  place,  this  great  attraction : 
''■And  there  are  710  charities P^  Ah!  lay  not  your 
dying  head  on  that  man's  pillow ! 

The  Gospel  will  be  adorned  only  by  men  who,  not 
in  word  and  in  tongue,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth, 
love  their  neighbour,  body  and  soul ; — by  men  in 
whom  the  character  of  Christ,  to  some  extent,  re- 
appears, that  character  of  love  and  self-sacrifice  to 
which  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  man 
were  the  sole  objects;  wealth,  or  ease,  or  pride, 
nothing.  Aim,  then,  aim  at  such  a  standard  of 
beneficence  as  shall  attract  to  the  religion  you  pro- 
fess the  admiring  eye  of  many,  who  before  had  seen 
in  it  no  loveliness ! 

I  plead  for  the  Gospel's  sake,  that  it  may  he 
diffused.  The  Lord's  commission  is,  that  we  "go 
into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature.''^  "  To  every  creature  !"  Let  us  remember 
that  injunction.  "While  a  human  being  lives  to  whom 
the  good  tidings  of  great  joy  have  never  been  told, 
our  commission  is  not  executed.  How  much  has 
been  done  already'-  toward  its  execution  ?  Half  the 
race  of  man,  and  more,  are  this  day  without 
Preachers  of  the  Gospel !  And  even  within  Chris- 
tian lands  numbers  of  holy  works,  for  which  the 


,,l!i  RESULTS    OF   ADOPTING   THIS    PRINCIPLE. 

need  is  reproaclifullj  plain,  remain  undone,  because 
tlie  church  of  God  is  not  sufficiently  self-denying  to 
give  the  means.  It  is  easy  to  sympathize  with  mis- 
sions ;  to  applaud  earnest  speeches,  and  kindle  with 
lively  hymns.  It  is  easy  to  feel  a  generous  glow 
while  we  sing,  in  the  words  of  Heber — 

''  Waft,  waft,  ye  wind,  the  story, 
And  you,  ye  waters,  roll, 
Till,  like  a  sea  of  glory, 

It  spreads  from  pole  to  pole !" 

But  listen!  the  winds  are  sweeping,  and  have 
been  sweeping  from  the  beginning,  over  the  peaks 
of  the  Himalaya  and  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Tsad. 
!Now  it  is  the  rustle  of  the  breeze,  now  the  shock 
of  the  tempest;  but  listen!  Does  either  sound 
on  the  ear  of  the  Heathen  the  name  "  Jesus  ?" 
The  waves  are  rolling,  and  from  the  beginning  have 
been  rolling,  on  the  shores  of  Fijii  and  of  Japan ; 
but  does  either  the  gentle  ripple,  or  the  boom  of  the 
mighty  wave,  sound  the  word,  "  Mercy  ?" 

No ;  if  the  story  is  to  be  told,  it  must  be  told  by 
the  voice  of  living  men.  And  whence  are  the 
means  to  come,  to  send  forth  messengers  to  tell  the 
tidings  of  grace  "  to  every  creature  V  Dr.  Morgan 
has  said  that  some  such  change  as  was  effected  in 
science  by  the  discovery  of  gravitation,  or  in 
mechanics  by  that  of  steam,  would  be  effected  in 
the  powers  of  the  church  for  good,  by  the  general 
adoption  of  the  observance  for  which  we  plead. 
And  whether  we  look  at  our  wealthy  or  our  poorer 


47 

churclies,  it  is  certain  that  were  all  their  members 
but  brought  up  even  to  the  practice  of  giving  a 
tenth,  then  would  their  ability  to  flood  the  earth 
with  Christian  agencies  be  increased  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  mankind ;  while  our  Societies,  though  in  a 
lower  degree,  would  put  on  a  new,  and  hitherto 
unheard-of,  might. 

We  are  drawing  near  to  the  hour  when  we  shall 
take  flight  from  this  shore  for  another.  At  whatso- 
ever moment  we  depart,  many  other  souls,  from  all 
lands,  w^ill  be  departing  too.  Who  would  wish  that, 
in  the  fliglit  of  souls  of  which  he  will  be  one,  the 
majority  should  be  of  those  who  had  never  heard  of 
Jesus  ?  If  this  is  not  to  be  our  case,  if  that  name  is 
to  sound  on  all  ears,  and  to  be  invoked  in  all  tongues, 
up  and  be  earnest !  Spare  not  your  goods,  that  the 
poor  in  soul  may  be  rich  at  last. 

I  PLEAD — reverently  it  must  be  said — for  the 
Lord's  sake.  It  is  true  that  all  idea  of  giving  a 
benefit  to  Him  is  for  ever  excluded.  ''Is  it  any 
gain  to  Him  that  thou  makest  thy  ways  perfect  ?" 
The  sun  He  has  set  in  our  firmament,  has  rejoiced 
our  world  from  Adam  until  now.  On  him  all  its 
beauty  and  its  life  depend,  ^ow  that  he  is  hidden, 
the  rose  has  no  blush,  the  lily  no  whiteness,  the 
meadow  no  green  ;  a  cheerless  gloom  reduces  them 
all  to  sameness.  To-morrow  when  he  re  appears,  all 
the  beauties  of  the  landscape  will  come  forth  anew. 
Suppose  that  then  we  were  all  seized  with  an  impulse 
of  admiration,  and  desired  to  show  how  much  we 


48 

valued  his  services  to  man ;  not  all  the  powers  of 
our  race  could  send  him  up  a  ray  to  make  him 
grander. 

He  is  the  emblem  of  his  Maker.  In  one  eternal 
outflood,  benefits  stream  from  Him  upon  His  crea- 
tures. Life,  joy,  redemption, — all  come  from  Him. 
After  ages  of  daily  debt,  were  all  our  race  this 
moment  seized  with  a  passion  of  gratitude,  did  every 
human  heart  ask,  "What  shall  I  render  unto  the 
Lord  for  all  His  benefits  ?"  then,  though  every 
bosom  throbbed,  and  every  hand  were  strained,  we 
could  not  add  one  ray  to  His  glory,  one  step  to  the 
elevation  of  His  throne,  one  hairbreadth  to  the 
extent  of  His  dominions,  or  one  moment  to  the 
duration  of  His  reign.  Inhabiting  eternity.  He  sits 
"in  the  high  and  holy  place,"  as  far  above  our 
power  to  benefit  as  to  injure  Him,  equally  incapable 
of  accession  and  decay. 

Yet  He  intrusts  to  us  interests  that  are  dear  to 
Him  ;  and,  therefore, — 

I  plead  for  the  Lord's  sake,  that  His  image  may 
he  worthily  reflected.  The  inanimate  works  of  His 
hand  tell  much  of  His  strength  and  skill ;  the  lower 
animals  much  of  His  wisdom  to  contrive  and  His 
might  to  control :  but  all  this  they  tell  not  to  them- 
selves, but  to  their  superior,  man.  They  are  but 
works  of  His,  not  children,  who  can  show  His  image, 
or  be  "  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature."  From 
them  man  can  learn  nothing  as  to  his  Maker's  mind 
on  moral  questions,  on  the  points  whereupon  the 


49 

deepest  anxieties  of  tlie  conscience  turn, — right  and 
wrong,  justice,  pardon,  judgment,  and  the  future. 
It  is  only  through  man  that  his  fellow-men  can  see 
the  image  of  God, — man,  that  wonderful  creature, 
whose  complex  nature  unites  the  lowest  to  the  high- 
est worlds,  bringing  matter,  animal  and  spirit,  into 
one  being, — a  being  who,  on  one  extreme,  is  equal 
with  the  clod,  and,  on  the  other,  by  the  communing 
of  the  Spirit  reaches  to  the  throne  of  the  Highest. 
In  him,  and  in  him  alone,  the  image  of  the  holy 
God  may  be  so  reflected,  that  men  here  shall  learn 
to  "  glorify  their  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

But  how  does  he  reflect  this  image  who,  profess- 
ing to  be  a  child  of  God,  is  yet  known  to  delight  in 
holding  and  in  storing,  but  to  feel  a  pain  in  giving  ? 
^Nothing  can  be  more  strictly  opposite  to  the  Divine 
nature  than  this.  The  unceasing  action  of  that 
nature  is  to  pour  out  unrequited  bounties.  Eeturn 
or  gain  it  knows  not;  and  so  does  it  delight  in 
bounty,  that  no  man  gives  to  another  in  the  Lord's 
name,  but  He  counts  the  deed  as  done  to  Himself. 
Blessed  is  that  human  being  in  whose  goodness  some 
mind  first  discerns  glimpses  of  the  goodness  of 
God! 

I  plead  for  the  Lord's  sake,  that  His  claims  may 
te  vindicated.  I  have  already  said,  that  many  who 
are  willing  to  look  upon  Him  as  God  of  the  world 
to  come,  feel  as  if  this  world's  property  was  not  so 
directly  His  and  under  His  hand.  For  the  Creator's 
glory  and  the  creature's  rest,  it  is  needful  that  all  be  ' 

3 


60  THANKS  TO   GOD. 

taught  that  the  gold  and  silver,  the  harvest's  yield, 
flocks,  herds,  and  fisheries,  are  all  His  property ; 
that  whatsoever  man  has  in  his  hand,  is  there  only 
in  trust  and  stewardship,  not  created  nor  yet  retained 
by  his  power;  that  a  Hand  unseen  can  at  any 
moment  empty  his  hand,  and  a  Mind  unseen  blight 
the  fruit  of  a  life's  prudence,  by  the  mistake  of  a 
day. 

Go,  then,  and  assert  the  Lord's  claims ;  go 
and  teach  man's  stewardship,  not  in  word,  but  in 
deed.  Steadily  devote  the  first-fruits  of  all  where- 
with  you  may  be  intrusted  to  holy  uses.  Let  your 
daily  actions  say  in  your  neighbours'  ears,  "  Freely 
ye  have  received,  freely  give  !" 

I  plead  for  the  Lord's  sake,  that  His  dice  praise 
may  he  rendered.  Li  speaking  of  the  effect  of 
Christian  liberality,  St.  Paul  tells  us  that  it  does  not 
stop  at  those  who  are  benefited,  but  passes  on,  in  a 
certain  sense,  to  the  Lord  Himself, — "  abounds  by 
many  thanksgivings  to  God."  To  abound  does  not 
mean  to  sufiice,  but  to  more  than  suffice ;  not  only 
to  fill  a  vessel,  but  to  wave  out,  or  overflow  from  it. 
Thus,  when  an  act  of  Christian  goodness  fllls  a  suf- 
fering heart  with  joy,  it  not  only  thanks  the  human 
hand  that  comforts  it,  but  overflows  in  the  words, 
"  Thank  God."  There  is  an  ear,  an  open  ear,  which 
never  closes  to  the  cry  of  want ;  but  when  it  listens 
from  heaven  to  the  children  of  men,  to  hear  if  there 
be  any  that  thank  God,  often  it  listens  in  vain, — • 
often  hears  praises  for  the  creature,  murmurs  and 


GIVING   AND  PROSPERING.  51 

blasphemies  for  the  Creator.  O,  would  yon  count  it 
a  little  thing,  if,  through  your  own  deeds,  that  ear, 
ever  and  anon,  heard  a  fervent  "  Thank  God  ?"  Of 
all  the  hands  that  make  melody,  none  raises  such 
music  as  his  whose  touch  on  the  heart-keys  of  the 
despairing  changes  a  murmur  into  a  thrilling 
"  Thank  God !" 

Give,  then,  freely  give,  that  some  poor  man 
who  was  ready  to  think  that  charity  was  dead  on 
earth,  and  mercy  in  heaven,  may  bless  you ;  and, 
feeling  that  it  was  God  who  sent  you  to  his  side, 
may  cry,  "  Thank  God !"  Give,  freely  give,  that 
the  sons  of  heathen  fathers,  of  cannibals  and  demon- 
worshippers,  may  make  scenes  which  have  echoed 
only  to  whoop,  or  yell,  or  din  of  orgies,  resound 
with  the  Christian  "  Praise  God !" 

I   PLEAD   FOR   YOUR   OWN    SAKE,  that  yOU  may  JpTOS- 

jper.  The  habit  of  statedly  giving  lirst-fruits  of  all 
you  receive,  tends  to  prosperity,  by  the  double  force 
of  a  natural  means  and  a  Divine  blessing.  As  a 
natural  means,  it  works  by  promoting  order  and 
economy.  One  reason  why  many  tradesmen  fail  is, 
that  they  do  not  in  due  time,  and  with  sufficient  fre- 
quency, ascertain  precisely  where  they  are.  He  who 
is  determined  that  all  his  increase  shall  pay  its  first- 
fruits  to  the  glory  of  his  Saviour,  must  ascertain 
what  that  increase  is.  Again:  one  reason  why 
many  persons  of  fixed  income  are  miserably  before 
their  means  is,  because  they  have  never  carefully 
apportioned  to  each  branch  of  their  expenditure  its 


r 


§3  KELIGTOIJS   MEN   FAILING. 

due  share  of  their  income.  "Were  one  portion  held 
sacred,  on  which  no  claim  whatever  sliould  touch, 
an  efficient  check  would  be  set  up  against  random, 
living. 

The  habits  of  order  and  economy  thus  acquired 
would  work  together  with  the  blessing  which  is 
assured  to  him  who  honours  the  Lord  with  the  lirst- 
fruits  of  all  his  increase.  That  a  man  living  steadily 
up  to  this  principle  will  prosper,  I  have  no  manner 
of  doubt.  I  once  asked  a  valued  friend  of  mine 
who  had  adopted  the  principle  of  giving  awa}^  a 
tenth  in  early  life,  and  whom  the  prospering  hand 
of  God  had  raised  from  humble  beginnings  to  a 
position  of  great  and  valuable  influence,  if  he  ever 
knew  a  case  in  which  a  man  had  set  out  on  that 
principle,  and  persevered  in  it^  and  then  failed  in 
life.     He  answered,  "  Not  one." 

Worldly  men  are  often  led  to  doubt  whether  a 
blessing  does  attend  the  labour  of  a  pious  man ;  for 
they  see  men  who  profess  religion  suddenly  brought 
down.  But  they  must  ask  whether  these  men  have 
been  faithful  to  their  religion.  It  often  happens  that 
one  who  begins  life  well,  and  is  liberal  while  he  has 
little,  yields  to  that  fatal  tendency  which  is  strong 
in  all  to  love  money  in  proportion  as  it  increases. 
As  they  become  richer  in  hand,  they  become  poorer 
in  heart.  As  they  acquire  more,  they  give  less.  I 
have  heard  of  one  who  had,  when  poorer,  been  in 
the  habit  of  giving  five  dollars  to  a  certain  good 
work ;  now  that  he  is  wealthy,  he  gives  half  a  dol- 
lar.   And  only  the  other  day  I  heard  of  a  miserable 


A  EICH  MAN.  ^  6S 

creature,  who  is  what  we  call  a  'cery  rich  man^  who, 
when  applied  to  in  a  very  urgent  case  by  two  Minis- 
ters, for  a  family  in  need,  did  at  last  promise  a  dol- 
lar. But  meeting  one  of  the  Ministers  afterwards, 
he  told  him  he  found  he  could  not  give  it ;  for  he 
had  so  many  houses,  and  had  now  to  pay  an 
increased  tax,  that  he  could  not  spare  so  much. 
Ah  !  how  such  copper  souls  are  to  be  pitied  !  Eut, 
these  cases  only  represent  a  large  class.  And  is  it 
to  be  wondered  at,  that  if  religious  men  thus  allow 
gold  to  choke  up  the  springs  of  feeling,  the  Lord 
should  smite  them  ?  You  worldly  men,  do  not 
judge  by  such  cases !  These  men  were  false  to  their 
religion,  and  it  is  fitting  that  a  blight  should  over- 
take them : — indeed,  that  blight  may  be  their 
salvation.  But  he  who  steadfastly  sets  apart  for  the 
Lord  the  first  portion  of  all  his  gains,  checks  his 
love  of  money  on  the  threshold ;  and  by  increasing 
the  proportion  as  his  gains  increase,  he  checks  the 
terrible  bent  to  a  progressive  love  of  it ;  so  that  it  is 
safe  for  himself,  and  good  for  the  church,  that  he 
should  prosper.  But  how  can  he  prosper  who  gives 
a  tenth  of  little,  but,  when  Providence  makes  it 
much,  thinks  his  tenth  too  much  to  give  ?  Even  to 
that  depth  of  baseness  can  our  poor  nature  go. 
Such  men,  not  only  in  substance,  but  in  very  form, 
"  rob  God,"  and  may  be  met  by  Him  with  that  stark 
and  frightful  charge.  And  if  it  may  be  said  of 
other  wrongful  modes  of  getting  wealth,  surely  it 
may  of  this :  "As  a  partridge  sittetli  on  eggs  and 
hatcheth  them  not,  so  he  that  getteth  riches,  and 


5i  A   CARNAL   MIND. 

not  bj  I'iglit,  shall  leave  them  in  the  midst  of  his 
dajs,  and  at  his  end  shall  be  a  fool." 

I  plead  for  your  own  sake,  that  you  may  escape 
the  curse  of  a  carnal  mind.  It  is  possible  for  a  man 
so  to  drown  his  spiritual  powers  in  sordid  passion, 
that  the  soul  within  him  ceases  to  have  any  action 
but  for  concerns  of  the  market.  Of  its  high  facul- 
ties he  cannot  rob  it :  it  is,  and  it  will  be,  a  soul, 
with  the  inherent  lights  and  forces  of  a  soul.  But 
all  these  he  presses  into  the  ignoble  service  of  pelf- 
gathering.  It  still  has  its  judgment,  capable  of 
deep  and  holy  themes  ;  but  this  is  kept  ever  poring 
upon  problems  lying  within  the  two  columns, — dol- 
lars and  cents.  It  has  its  imagination ;  but  this, 
instead  of  taking  flights  to  a  better  country,  only 
dwells  on  more  gold,  more  houses,  more  land,  more 
state.  It  has  its  fear  ;  but  this,  forgetting  all  things 
really  fearful,  shudders  at  nothing  except  losses. 
And  even  its  hope,  though  unquenchable,  aspiring 
only  after  property,  does  not  wing  the  soul  for 
heaven,  but  earths  it  deeper  in  pelf.  Thus  the  poor 
soul  is  totally  shut  out  from  its  native  air,  and  the 
whole  man  sinks  into  a  machine, — a  most  wonderful 
and  elaborate  machine,  worked  by  spirit-power,  for 
the  single  use  of  scraping,  scraping,  scraping 
gold! 

There  are  hundreds  of  souls  in  this  city  just  like 
that ;  and  if  you  would  not  have  your  soul  degraded 
into  mere  spirit-power  for  working  a  gold-rake, 
spring  up,  and,  appealing  for  help  to  the  Spirit  who 


BAGS   WHICH   WAX   NOT   GOLD.  55 

is  over  all,  go  and  teach  your  hands  to  do  works  of 
generosity,  instead  of  teaching  your  soul  to  do  works 
of  pelf. 

I  plead  for  your  own  sake,  that  you  may  increase 
in  purity  and  heavenliness  of  mind.  It  was  our 
Redeemer  who  first  showed  the  way  to  make  money 
a  means  of  inclining  our  affections  toward  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  He  said:  "Sell 
that  ye  have,  and  give  alms;  provide  yourselves 
bags  which  wax  not  old,"  (is  not  this  what  you 
would  covet  ?  "  hags  which  wax  not  old?")  "  a  trea- 
sure in  the  heavens,  where  no  thief  approacheth,  nor 
moth  corrupteth."  ITow,  mark  the  philosophy  of 
this :  "  For  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your 
heart  he  alsoP  So  that,  by  gradually  laying  up 
your  treasure  in  heaven,  your  heart  will  gradually 
follow  it  there  ;  and  thus  money,  which  some  treat 
as  capable  only  of  being  a  bond  and  a  burden,  may 
become  to  you  a  connecting  wire  with  the  Throne 
of  retributions,  and  a  stimulant  to  hope  for  "the 
resurrection  of  the  just."  A  farmer  who  loves  to 
see  a  full  barn,  and  also  to  receive  in  market  the 
price  of  his  crops,  yet  foregoes  the  market,  and 
reduces  the  store  in  his  barn,  casts  away  his  precious 
grain  out  of  his  hand,  out  of  his  sight,  and  leaves  it 
buried,  lost  as  to  immediate  return,  trusting  it 
wholly  to  the  bosom  of  earth,  and  the  eye  of  Hea- 
ven. "What  effect  does  this  portion  of  his  treasure 
produce  upon  him?  It  turns  his  thoughts  away 
from  the  barn,  from  the  market,  from  the  pride  of 


S6  TEEASURE  FOR  THE  LAST  DAYS. 

the  one  and  the  gold  of  the  other.  It  leads  his  eye 
often  up  to  the  heavens,  and  his  thoughts  forward 
to  the  coming  harvest-day. 

Go,  then,  and  sow,  not  sparingly,  but  bountifully. 
Foregoing  the  proud  store,  foregoing  the  present 
recompense,  cast  your  treasure  out  of  your  grasp, 
out  of  your  sight,  cast  it  with  a  broad  hand  and  a 
glad  heart ;  leave  it  there  unseen  in  the  soil  of  eter- 
nity, and  under  the  suns  of  heaven.  Even  here  the 
fruit  will  be,  that  by  degrees,  your  mind  will  set 
itself  more  strongly  on  the  joys  that  never  wane: 
and  when  the  harvest-days  set  in,  how  many  will  be 
fain  that  they  had  sowed  as  you ! 

I  plead  for  your  own  sake,  that  you  may  have 
some  good  of  your  money ^  even  to  eternity.  In  the 
passage  just  referred  to,  our  Kedeemer  shows  how 
we  may,  by  a  heavenly  use  of  earthly  goods,  lay  up 
treasure  in  heaven.  An  Apostle  tells  us  of  another 
treasure  which,  by  means  of  money,  we  may  "  heap 
together  for  the  last  days."  But  this  is  a  treasure  of 
"  miseries  that  shall  come  upon  you."  He  who,  to 
amass  wealth,  keeps  back  the  labourer's  hire,  or  falls 
into  other  "  fraud," — surely  not  excepting  the  fraud 
which  deprives  the  Lord  of  the  beneficent  use  of 
His  own  gifts, — is,  in  heaping  up  money  for  this 
world,  heaping  up  "  treasure  for  the  last  days." 
"While  the  gold  and  silver  distributed  for  the  Lord's 
sake,  to  benefit  the  souls  and  the  bodies  of  men,  will 
all  be  found  turned  into  incorruptible  treasure  "  at 
the  resurrection  of  the  just;"  this  gold  and  silver 


67 

whicli  no  thank-offerings  hallowed,  and  no  poor  man 
blessed,  on  which  the  eye  of  the  needy  looked  wist- 
fully, and  for  which  the  works  of  God's  church 
appealed  in  vain — this,  too,  will  re-appear;  its  "rust 
shall  he  a  witness  against  you^  and  shall  eat  your 
flesh  as  it  were  fireP  This,  O  money-lover !  is  the 
way  in  which  you  have  heaped  treasure  "  together 
for  the  last  days  !" 

"  O,  I  have  not  been  selfish !  It  is  not  for  myself 
I  have  got  something  together.  I  know  I  must  leave 
it.  It  is  for  my  children  I  have  saved."  Well,  per- 
haps it  would  have  been  a  blessing  to  your  children, 
had  they  been  left  just  with  the  means  of  honourably 
starting  in  life,  the  rest  depending,  under  God,  on 
their  own  conduct.  Perhaps  the  stores  you  have 
painfully  gathered  will  breed  contentions  over  your 
grave,  and  then  hurry  your  children  to  folly  and  to 
sin — ay,  perhaps  to  poverty. 

You  have  saved  for  your  children  !  "W"e  are  ready 
to  admit  that,  in  this,  if  moderately  done,  you  are  a 
public  benefactor ;  for  he  who  finds  a  family  com- 
peting with  the  poor  in  the  labour  market,  and 
leaves  it  in  a  condition  to  employ  them  instead  of 
competing  with  them,  does  a  general  service.  But 
while  you  have  been  saving  for  your  children,  what 
have  you  saved  for  yourself?  In  a  week  your  will 
may  be  read  ;  and  is  it  possible  that  all  the  savings 
of  your  life  are  invested  where  they  will  then  be  in 
the  hands  of  others,  and  nothing  invested  where  it 
will  come  to  account  for  you  ?  As  with  our  life,  so 
with  our  money :  he  that  saveth  his  money  shall  lose 

3* 


58  DYING   POOR. 

it ;  and  he  who,  for  the  Lord's  sake  and  the  Gospel's 
sake,  loses  his  wealth  shall  find  it.  The  only  money 
we  save  for  ourselves  is  what  we  give  to  the 
Lord. 

The  same  sentiment  is  quaintly  expressed  on  an 
old  monument  in  the  parish  church  of  Leek,  Staf- 
fordshire : — 

"As  I  was,  so  be  ye; 
As  I  am,  ye  shall  be ; 
That  I  gave,  that  I  have ; 
What  I  spent,  that  I  had. 
Thus  I  end  all  my  cost : 
What  I  left,  that  I  lost." 

From  the  moment  you  depart  hence  (and  how  long 
is  that  moment  away  ?),  not  one  cent  of  all  you  ever 
handled  will  remain  to  you,  except  that  which  you 
freely  gave  away.  When  all  the  rest  is  in  the  hands 
of  others,  this  will  abide  for  you,  and  at  the  great 
day  will  be  apportioned  to  you,  in  new  forms,  and 
with  wondrous  increase,  before  all  eyes  that  ever 
counted  gold,  or  ever  melted  with  benevolence. 
Then,  if  you  would  save  anything  for  yourself,  if  you 
would  have  any  enjoyment  from  your  possessions 
beyond  this  uncertain  life,  go  and  "  put  on  Christ :" 
let  your  own  character  disappear  under  His ;  your 
own  modes  of  judging  and  acting  give  place  to  His. 
Give  yourself  first  to  Him,  and  then  to  the  church 
and  the  good  works  the  church  has  to  do ;  and  then 
shall   you  "  lay  up   in  store   against  the  time  to 


DYING   POOR.  59 

"All,  but  I  should  not  like  to  die  poor!"  Not 
like  to  die  poor  !  For  my  part  I  should  wish  to  die 
rich.  Who  dies  kich  ?  He  who,  whether  he  leaves 
much,  or  little,  or  nothing  behind  him,  has  treasure 
laid  up  in  heaven.  He  dies  rich.  Who  dies  poor  ? 
He  who,  whatever  he  leaves  behind  him,  has  nothing 
laid  up  before  him.    He  dies  jpoor* 


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